Root Cause Analysis:
Mowing Down Problems of the Future and Erasing Mistakes of the Past
Are you Pointing the finger? That’s normal!
Problems occur constantly in day to day life and we must take the proper steps in order to find solutions to those problems. Generally speaking, people seem to learn best by making mistakes then using a process known as root cause analysis to address and correct the original problem which led to the mistake. This method of root cause analysis, or RCA, is a reasonable way to analyze everyday life, but until recently, it has been relied on primarily as a corrective action. It does seem, however, that the more we study RCA, the more we are realizing that it is actually possible to use the root cause analysis method as a preventative measure. In short, it is becoming both a corrective and preventative action.
The easiest way to understand this method is to think of it as a learning process, not from our own mistakes, but from others. However, on occasion, it isn\’t even necessary for someone else to make a mistake. We have brains that can forecast the consequences, whether positive or negative, when different actions are taken. This realization opens up the fact that root cause analysis can be used to avoid problems. Not only can we use incident investigations to discover past root problems, but also we can discover all of the possible root problems for different situations that might arise in the future. Once we discover all of the different possible root causes, we can avoid making those costly mistakes, in addition to correcting any previous mistakes.
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