Do You Need Root Cause Analysis Excellence?

What is Root Cause Analysis Excellence?

Before defining root cause analysis excellence, you need to understand the fundamentals of root cause analysis. Read about the fundamentals of root cause analysis HERE.

Obviously, to achieve root cause analysis excellence, you need to get the fundamentals right. As Michael Jordan said:

“Get the fundamentals down, and
the level of everything you do will rise.”

That’s why learning the essential TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Techniques that are taught in the 2-Day TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Training and the 3-Day Virtual TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Training is so important.

But the fundamentals are just a start to achieving excellence. Being excellent is:

Being way beyond being good.
You must be exceptional. Outstanding!

Why would you (or your company) want to be beyond being average in root cause analysis? Read on to find out.

Excellent Root Cause Analysis is Essential

To understand why you need root cause analysis, you must understand what average root cause analysis looks like. As an example of average root cause analysis, I might refer you to examples of the results for applying 5-Whys to find root causes. For examples, see THIS ARTICLE.

I see these kinds of examples in real life all the time. They frequently stop at the root cause of “human error,” which isn’t a root cause at all. Read THIS ARTICLE and THIS ARTICLE to understand why human error is not a root cause.

What is the difference between average root cause analysis and excellent root cause analysis? Read about the comparison of an expert using 5-Whys with someone using advanced root cause analysis (excellent root cause analysis) HERE.

But why is excellent root cause analysis essential? Think about the results that you need to achieve. For example, would you like these kinds of results?

All three accidents above had precursor incidents that, if they had been learned from, could have prevented the major accident. And in all three examples, top management thought they had sufficiently effective root cause analysis. Maybe even above average. But they didn’t.

You might say, well … that’s just three examples. That’s true. But I have NEVER seen a major accident that didn’t have precursor incidents. Precursor incident that could have been learned from with excellent root cause analysis.

What is a precursor incident?

PRECURSOR INCIDENT
Minor incidents that could have been major accidents
if one or more Safeguards had failed.

Here’s an example of a precursor incident…

What do you think? Was the precursor incident above investigated? Did they find and fix the root causes using excellent root cause analysis? Or did they ask “why” five times, told people to be more careful, and let things continue as they always have?

The point is that “average” root cause analysis of precursor incidents does not prevent future major accidents due to similar Causal Factors because:

• The investigations don’t identify the true root causes.
• The investigations don’t recommend effective corrective actions.
• The corrective actions aren’t implemented in a timely manner.
• Or more than one (or all) of the above.

Average root cause analysis leads to major accidents because the causes of the precursor incidents are NOT effectively addressed.

And that is why you need root cause analysis excellence!

How Do You Achieve Root Cause Analysis Excellence?

Achieving root cause analysis starts with learning and applying the fundamentals. That can start with a 2-Day TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Course.

To become excellent, you must go beyond the fundamentals. That’s why we suggest companies using TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis have at least several people trained in the 5-Day TapRooT® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Course. These “experts” can coach other investigators and grade their investigations as part of a continuous improvement program.

We also suggest these experts attend the Global TapRooT® Summit and one of the advanced pre-Summit Courses that we hold every year. Networking with other experts from a variety of industries and learning from advanced sessions and courses helps the experts continually improve their skills and coach the investigators back at the company to become even better.

Continuous improvement is what root cause analysis excellence is all about.

We continuously improve the TapRooT® System and Software, and your investigators continuously improve their skills.

You will find that investment in continuous improvement is worth it. See what some of our TapRooT® Users have achieved at THIS LINK.

Help Achieving Root Cause Analysis Excellence

You don’t have to figure out root cause analysis on your own. We can help. We have a staff of experienced TapRooT® Implementation Experts who can coach you through the process and help you design a roadmap to successful root cause analysis excellence.

Call them at 865-548-8990 or CLICK HERE to send them a message.

But don’t wait! You can’t afford “average” root cause analysis. You need root cause analysis excellence now!