Specific tools for performing root-cause analysis can be applied to get past the symptom and focus on the disease. The root-cause analysis concept originated in manufacturing and is often referred to as “the five whys” because Toyota discovered that, on average, it took on average of five “whys” to get to the root cause.Masaaki Imai proposed this approach at Toyota in the 1970s to improve the diagnosis of production problems. It entails continuing to ask why each event occurred until the root cause is identified. For example, perhaps the post-loss analysis reveals that the proposed management team was not experienced enough to be credible to the customer. This is the time to ask the first “why.” Suppose the answer is, “The top two candidates for the management positions were not available and could not present.”
Then the team would ask the second “why.” If the answer is something like, “They could not get approval to get time off from their current assignment,” it would be time to ask yet another “why.”
Suppose the answer to that is, “Their managers did not see the value in their participation in the proposed project when compared with keeping them billable on current work.”
Now it would be time for one more “why.” The answer to that might very well be, “No one from senior management called the supervisors to explain that this was a ‘must-win’ or offered any assistance in filling the gap that would be created by the candidates’ absence.”
This is a real-world example of a root cause, and it is a problem that can be addressed or avoided the next time.
Because of biases that the members of the sales teams themselves might not recognize, it helps to have an experienced facilitator manage the root-cause process. Moreover, conversations about personalities, work habits, competencies, skills, knowledge and experience can enter into the root-cause analysis. These are sensitive topics, and the entire exercise can easily degenerate into assigning blame unless there are clearly stated and enforced rules of the road and one or more neutral observers.
Past posts:
Step One – Find out what happened
Step Two – Determine Causality
Step Four – Let Go and Move On