Root Cause Analysis

Tracing a Problem to its Origins

In medicine, it's easy to understand the difference between treating the symptoms and curing the
condition. A broken wrist, for example, really hurts! But painkillers will only take away the
symptoms; you'll need a different treatment to help your bones heal properly.

But what do you do when you have a problem at work? Do you jump straight in and treat the
symptoms, or do you stop to consider whether there's actually a deeper problem that needs your
attention? If you only fix the symptoms – what you see on the surface – the problem will almost
certainly return, and need fixing over, and over again.

Learn how to use Root Cause Analysis to fix problems more easily.

However, if you look deeper to figure out what's causing the problem, you can fix the underlying
systems and processes so that it goes away for good.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a popular and often-used technique that helps people answer the
question of why the problem occurred in the first place. It seeks to identify the origin of a problem
using a specific set of steps, with associated tools, to find the primary cause of the problem, so that
you can:

Determine what happened.

Determine why it happened.

Figure out what to do to reduce the likelihood that it will happen again.

RCA assumes that systems and events are interrelated. An action in one area triggers an action in
another, and another, and so on. By tracing back these actions, you can discover where the problem
started and how it grew into the symptom you're now facing.

You'll usually find three basic types of causes:

Physical causes – Tangible, material items failed in some way (for example, a car's brakes stopped
working).

Human causes – People did something wrong, or did not do something that was needed. Human
causes typically lead to physical causes (for example, no one filled the brake fluid, which led to the
brakes failing).

Organizational causes – A system, process, or policy that people use to make decisions or do their
work is faulty (for example, no one person was responsible for vehicle maintenance, and everyone
assumed someone else had filled the brake fluid).
RCA looks at all three types of causes. It involves investigating the patterns of negative effects,
finding hidden flaws in the system, and discovering specific actions that contributed to the problem.
This often means that RCA reveals more than one root cause.

You can apply RCA to almost any situation. Determining how far to go in your investigation requires
good judgment and common sense. Theoretically, you could continue to trace root causes back to
the Stone Age, but the effort would serve no useful purpose. Be careful to understand when you've
found a significant cause that can, in fact, be changed.

The Root Cause Analysis Process

RCA has five identifiable steps.

Step One: Define the Problem

What do you see happening?

What are the specific symptoms?

Step Two: Collect Data

What proof do you have that the problem exists?

How long has the problem existed?

What is the impact of the problem?

You need to analyze a situation fully before you can move on to look at factors that contributed to
the problem. To maximize the effectiveness of your RCA, get together everyone – experts and front
line staff – who understands the situation. People who are most familiar with the problem can help
lead you to a better understanding of the issues.

Finding This Article Useful?

You can learn another 43 problem-solving skills, like this, by joining the Mind Tools Club.

Join the Mind Tools Club Today!

Get the Free Newsletter

Learn new career skills every week, and get our Personal Development Plan Workbook FREE when
you subscribe.

Top of Form

nlSubscribePage 37
28ffcdc6522e110c34619422f6b749e8 1 1
 Subscribe
Privacy Policy

Bottom of Form

A helpful tool at this stage is CATWOE . With this process, you look at the same situation from
different perspectives: the Customers, the people (Actors) who implement the solutions, the
Transformation process that's affected, the World view, the process Owner, and Environmental
constraints.

Step Three: Identify Possible Causal Factors

What sequence of events leads to the problem?

What conditions allow the problem to occur?

What other problems surround the occurrence of the central problem?

During this stage, identify as many causal factors as possible. Too often, people identify one or two
factors and then stop, but that's not sufficient. With RCA, you don't want to simply treat the most
obvious causes – you want to dig deeper.

Use these tools to help identify causal factors:

Appreciation – Use the facts and ask "So what?" to determine all the possible consequences of a
fact.

5 Whys – Ask "Why?" until you get to the root of the problem.

Drill Down – Break down a problem into small, detailed parts to better understand the big picture.

Cause and Effect Diagrams – Create a chart of all of the possible causal factors, to see where the
trouble may have begun.

Step Four: Identify the Root Cause(s)

Why does the causal factor exist?

What is the real reason the problem occurred?

Use the same tools you used to identify the causal factors (in Step Three) to look at the roots of each
factor. These tools are designed to encourage you to dig deeper at each level of cause and effect.

Step Five: Recommend and Implement Solutions

What can you do to prevent the problem from happening again?

How will the solution be implemented?

Who will be responsible for it?

What are the risks of implementing the solution?

Analyze your cause-and-effect process, and identify the changes needed for various systems. It's also
important that you plan ahead to predict the effects of your solution. This way, you can spot
potential failures before they happen.

One way of doing this is to use Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). This tool builds on the
idea of risk analysis to identify points where a solution could fail. FMEA is also a great system to
implement across your organization; the more systems and processes that use FMEA at the start,
the less likely you are to have problems that need RCA in the future.

Impact Analysis is another useful tool here. This helps you explore possible positive and negative
consequences of a change on different parts of a system or organization.

Another great strategy to adopt is Kaizen , or continuous improvement. This is the idea that
continual small changes create better systems overall. Kaizen also emphasizes that the people
closest to a process should identify places for improvement. Again, with Kaizen alive and well in your
company, the root causes of problems can be identified and resolved quickly and effectively.

Key Points

Root Cause Analysis is a useful process for understanding and solving a problem.

Figure out what negative events are occurring. Then, look at the complex systems around those
problems, and identify key points of failure. Finally, determine solutions to address those key points,
or root causes.

You can use many tools to support your RCA process. Cause and Effect Diagrams and 5 Whys are
integral to the process itself, while FMEA and Kaizen help minimize the need for RCA in the future.

As an analytical tool, RCA is an essential way to perform a comprehensive, system-wide review of

significant problems as well as the events and factors leading to them.

Click on the button below to download a template that will help you log problems, likely root causes
and potential solutions. Thanks to Club member weeze for providing the basis for this.

Download Worksheet

This site teaches you the skills you need for a happy and successful career; and this is just one of
many tools and resources that you'll find here at Mind Tools. Subscribe to our free newsletter, or
join the Mind Tools Club and really supercharge your career!

Add this article to My Learning Plan

Mark article as Complete

Top of Form

1 305
Rate this resource

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Show RatingsHide Ratings

Ratings

Free Coaching Workbook Offer!

Get a FREE copy of our How to Coach workbook when you sign up for a month's trial of the Mind
Tools Club before midnight, August 3.

Find Out More

Join the Mind Tools Club Sign up for our FREE newsletter

Comments (45)

Top of Form

Write your message…

305 Post Comment

Bottom of Form

Over a month agoMichele wrote

Hi db1205,

We're glad that you found the article helpful. Finding the root cause of any problem before you
begin to identify solutions ensures that you resolve the right problem!

Michele
Mind Tools Team

Over a month agodb1205 wrote

Insightful

Over a month agoMichele wrote

Hello khamiskinga,

You are most welcome. We appreciate your support of the work that we do here at Mind Tools.

Michele
Mind Tools Team

View All Comments

Previous Article Next Article

Get the Free Newsletter

Learn new career skills every week, and get our Personal Development Plan Workbook FREE when
you subscribe.

Top of Form

nlSubscribePage 37
28ffcdc6522e110c34619422f6b749e8 1 1

Subscribe
Privacy Policy

Bottom of Form
Get the Free Newsletter

Learn new career skills every week, and get our Personal Development Plan Workbook FREE when
you subscribe.

Top of Form

nlSubscribePage 37
28ffcdc6522e110c34619422f6b749e8 1 1

Subscribe
Privacy Policy

Bottom of Form
Free Coaching Workbook Offer

Get a FREE copy of our How to Coach workbook when you sign up for a month's trial of the Mind
Tools Club before midnight, August 3.

Try the Club For a Month

1 Day to Go!
Learning at Work Is No Longer an Event

Integrate more than 2,400 Mind Tools resources with your company systems and learning
environments.

Find Out More

1 Day to Go!

Your Views

Provide Your Feedback

What Bugs You

Let us know your suggestions or any bugs on the site, and you could win a $50 Amazon voucher!

Click here to tell us.

Sponsored Links

Toolkit

Leadership Skills (60)

Team Management (286)

Strategy Tools (136)

Problem Solving (43)

Decision Making (53)

Project Management (63)

Time Management (61)

Stress Management (64)

Communication Skills (139)

Creativity Tools (26)

Learning Skills (50)

Career Skills (186)

My Learning Plan

Add Article to My Plan

Save My Plan

Recently Added 0

My Learning Plan Page

Find Out More

Management Training and Leadership Training, Online

About Mind Tools

About Us

FAQs

Contact Us

Privacy and Cookies

Privacy Policy

Terms of Use

Acceptable Use Policy

Cookie Information

Corporate Solutions

Corporate Solutions

About

Products

Features
Request a Demo

L&D Blog

Events

Club Membership

Join for $1

Store

Ebooks

Mind Tools Club Membership

Free Apps

Motivational Posters

Newsletter

Newsletter Sign Up

Newsletter Archive

RSS Feed

Accessibility

Accessibility

© Mind Tools Ltd, 1996-2017. All rights reserved. "Mind Tools" is a registered trademark of Mind
Tools Ltd. Click here for permissions information.

Processing

Please wait...