The Power Of Root Cause Analysis

The Power Of Root Cause Analysis

As I write this article I'm presently suffering from sciatica. It is a common condition that is estimated to affect millions of people every day. Although it is accepted that the condition and spinal problems are linked identifying the true cause of the pain is made difficult because the pain assciated with sciatica is not always accompanied by back pain. To complicate matters not all back problems give rise to sciatica.
My first reaction was to reach for painkillers. They worked, but only for a short time. I then bought a Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) machine to ease my pain. Again, this helped but did not cure my problem. A visit to my doctor identified the real problem. Allow me to continue in order to answer your question. Sciatic pain is an example of synalgia or 'referred' pain. In other words, the cause of the pain is somewhere other than where the pain is being experienced and, as any doctor will tell you, the only permanent way to deal with any symptom is to treat the underlying cause of the problem. Have you worked it out yet?People in organisations spend a lot of their time solving problems. Unfortunately, many solve the wrong problem and find that the problem they thought they had solved comes back at some point in the future. A few years ago National Parks managers noticed the Jefferson Memorial was crumbling at an alarming rate. As this was a monument to one of its founding fathers people were greatly concerned. The authorities did some brainstorming to identify potential causes and came up with several; poor construction, defective materials, too many tourists, pollution and subsidence to name but a few. For most people the analysis would stop here. The solution is clear, right? Adjust the cleaning schedule to match those of the other memorials, use softer brushes or less aggressive chemicals. Any of these actions would have only led to a very dirty Jefferson Memorial. So, why did it need to be washed on a daily basis? When parks managers asked this question they found it had an exceptionally large amount of pigeon droppings deposited on it every day. What's the solution now? Put bird scarers in the trees that line the memorial? Kill the pigeons? Ask them to leave? So, why were the pigeons there in such large numbers seeming to soil the Jefferson Memorial at rates higher than they did so to the Kennedy or Lincoln memorials?When the managers investigated they discovered that the roof was teeming with a large population of spiders upon which the pigeons were feeding. The solution? Shoot the spiders?So, why were there so many spiders on the roof? It turned out that they had a voracious appetite for a particular type of bug; one that infested the roof. Why were the bugs there? They were drawn there in their millions by the power of the floodlights that illuminated the structure. The park managers were actually creating this problem, inadvertently, by turning the lights on the memorial just before dusk; an action that caused the whole chain of events. Lots of bugs attracted the spiders. Lots of spiders attracted the pigeons. Lots of pigeon droppings necessitated the daily washing of the memorial. The bugs went elsewhere. The spiders reduced in number. Doing so will prevent you from having to deal with the same problem over and over again. It may take a bit longer but it is worth it.------------------------------Ian Henderson is a leading authority on leadership and management. He has worked with thousands of people from a wide range of organisations in the UK, the USA, Europe and Africa and is the director of training of Eagle Training Ltd, one of the UK's leading management, leadership and sales training companies.