Why carry out a Root Cause Analysis (RCA)? Surely it’s to find who is at fault, who is to blame and who will be the one to throw under the bus (metaphorically of course). Well if you think that, you’re wrong.
We carry out a RCA to identify where we went wrong or where we done something right so that we can learn from it and grow as people, as a team and as a business. Usually, a RCA is carried out when an error has led to a signification cost or time impact. However, it can also be used in a positive way. For example, if a large cost saving has been made then a RCA can be carried out to identify what went right! So how do we carry out a root cause analysis? Here are 4 simple steps to follow which allows any leader to carry out the ultimate Root Cause Analysis.
Understand the scenario
Depending on the scale of the scenario a RCA can be carried out by an individual or a team. The first step is to understand what the outcome of the RCA is. Think on what you are actually scrutinising. For example, a house construction project you have been leading has gone over-budget by £100k. A similar venture is to be carried out as there were various other successes but you need to know why the cost increased so much. Therefore, the goal is to determine what causes the spike in cost.
Set the tone
The people carrying out the RCA need to exhibit the right behaviours in order for the RCA to be a success. Everyone in the room needs to know that this is not a forum for appointing blame but an open forum to learn. Below shows a table of the right and wrong behaviours for a RCA.
| Right behaviours | Wrong behaviours |
| Open minded and present | Uninterested and not present |
| Honest with information despite where the issue derived from | Hiding information due to fear of ramification |
| Looking for the problem to fix | Looking for someone to blame |
| Respectful and allow people to speak | Shouting over each other |
| Remains objective | Focuses on opinion rather than fact |
Five stages of why
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? This child like questioning, believe it or not, works. It is simple yet effective. By asking ourselves a minimum of why five times and exhibiting the right behaviours exposes the truth. Below is an simple example based on the issue of the over spending project.
Why 1?
Why did it go over budget? Because we needed additional materials.
Why 2?
Why did we need additional materials, this should have been priced for? Because it was not on the procurement schedule.
Why 3?
Why was it not of the procurement schedule? Because it was not included within the tender price.
Why 4?
Why it was not included within the tender? Because the person carrying out the tender did not know that the material was required.
Why 5?
Why did they not know? Because they did not have the relevant guidance or training and the tender was not reviewed by the right person.
Learn and adapt
Now you know what went wrong with a plan you can learn how you can improve and implement a change initiative to improve for the next project. In this example, you may communicate the findings to your Seniors with a recommendation to use the knowledge from this project within the pricing for the next project. A problem many people face is not actually implementing the learning. So as a leader, lead by example and implement the learning on your next project! Want to know how to implement change in 9 simple steps. Click here to read my previous post!
How to reference this article
- Toor, J. (2019). How to carry out the ultimate root cause analysis? Available: https://pmgrowth.co/4-steps-on-how-to-carry-out-the-ultimate-root-cause-analysis?