How to Address the Root Causes and Consequences
- 1). Stop the activity that causes the problem immediately. Whether it is a production chain in a factory that makes faulty products or a computer malfunctioning, turning it off or stopping the process can ensure you minimize the problem's consequences.
- 2). Evaluate the consequences of the problem. For example, in production, 300 faulty units in the factory mean that you have lost a considerable potential income, but if these faulty units are already in the market, it means your company's reputation can be damaged. Make a list of consequences that you can fix and a list of those you can do nothing about.
- 3). Deal with the consequences you can fix. For example, refund customers that bought a faulty product, so that your reputation remains intact, and treat a person who was injured while riding a bike with faulty breaks.
- 4). Examine the activity where the problem arose, leading to negative consequences. This procedure is called "root cause analysis" and the individual measures you must take are different, depending on the type of the problem and the organizational environment where it occurred. For example, if a faulty product has incorrectly screwed caps, check the relevant machine in the factory.
- 5). Identify the chain of events that led to the problem to determine the root cause. For example, the machine that screws caps incorrectly is not the root cause, as it may be installed incorrectly because the mechanic does not have relevant knowledge. Therefore, the root cause is not the machine but the mechanic, as even if the machine was replaced, the mechanic would again install it incorrectly.
- 6). Determine whether it is more effective to deal with the root cause and therefore eliminate a problem or to continue treating the consequences for the time being. For example, replacing the machine and the mechanic can be more costly than just discarding 300 units per month. This is only a short-term dilemma, as a recurring problem is bound to prove more costly in the long term.
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