Problem Identification: A problem becomes known when a person observes a discrepancy between the way things are and the way things ought to be. Problems can be identified through:

• Comparative/benchmarking studies
• Performance reporting – assessment of current performance against goals and objectives
• SWOT Analysis – assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
• Complaints
• Surveys

Getting the “root” of the problem: Sometimes the thing we think is a problem is not the real problem, so to get at the real problem, probing is necessary. Root cause Analysis is an effective method of probing – it helps identify what, how, and why something happened.

Definition of Root cause: A specific underlying cause that can reasonably be identified and over which management has control to implement corrective measures.

Root Cause Analysis Technique –

1. Five Why’s: Five Why’s refers to the practice of asking, five times, why the problem exists in order to get to the root cause of the problem.

Consider an example of Machine Breakdown to understand the 5 Why’s

2. Fishbone diagram: Fishbone diagram (a.k.a. Cause and Effect Diagram or Ishikawa Diagram) is an analysis tool that provides a systematic way of looking at effects and the causes that create or contribute to those effects. It can be defined as a visual tool used to identify, explore and visualize all the possible causes related to a problem. It helps to identify root cause of a problem.

The value of the Fishbone diagram is that it provides a method for categorizing the many potential causes of problems or issues in an orderly way and in identifying root causes.

Consider an example of ” terrible tea” at the work space. How do you identify this problem? Why was the tea bad? What are possibilities of change?

Other Root Cause Analysis Techniques are:

• Force Field Analysis – Visually show forces that impact your problem or issue
• Scatter Diagrams – Graphs the relationship of two variables – quantifies the correlation, showing how one variable influences another  
• Process Mapping – Maps the “as is” flow of activities that make up a process – look for excessive handoffs, redundancies, and other root causes of inefficiencies
• Benchmarking – Compares existing performance to another internal or external source, identifies issues not otherwise revealed through other techniques

Basic Questions to ask in Defining the Problem (regardless of the technique used)

1. Who?

• Who is causing the problem?
• Who says this is a problem?
• Who are impacted by this problem?

2. What?

• What will happen is this problem is not solved?
• What are the symptoms?
• What are the impacts?

3. Where?

• Where does this problem occur?
• Where does this problem have an impact?

4. When?

• When does this problem occur?
• When did this problem first start occurring?

5. Why?

• Why is this problem occurring?

6. How?

• How should the process or system work?
• How are people currently handling the problem?