Root Cause Analysis

Now after you have selected the appropriate metrics, are monitoring and reporting them to upper management, what do you do when they are telling a story that you are not happy with? At the heart of every Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement project is one thing: root cause analysis. After all, you can’t do design of experiments (DOE) until you know what you are trying to prove. Root cause analysis is often thought to be only used for fixing problems. It can also be used to determine why the current state doesn’t match the desired future state. Through implementation of the Kano philosophy, two ways to achieve delightful delivery are seen: constant striving plus structured and incremental improvements based on analysis, identification of an issue or opportunity, and evolution of practices. In order to improve, the impediments to improvement must be removed. Root cause analysis is the process of determining the root cause of a particular event. This event can have occurred in the past or be expected in the future; the event can be either positive or negative. Root cause is the first most principal cause of an event. Once potential root cause has been determined, it must be confirmed before either corrective or improvement action can take place. Corrective action is that which when taken, eliminates or significantly reduces the impact of the root cause of a problem, thereby preventing or mitigating the effects of recurrence. Improvement action is the implementation of a planned improvement initiative in order to reach a desired goal. It is this type of ongoing improvement action that will drive an organizationtoward delightful service delivery. Whenever possible, corrective and improvement actions should be tied to quantifiable metrics so that you have an easy way to see if the action taken has been successful. Quite simply, if the metric moves the desired amount in the right direction, then you have been successful.