Root Cause Analysis

Cause Mapping - Root Cause Analysis Applications

When Can Cause Mapping Be Used?

Cause Mapping is a method of achieving goals using causal analysis and process/design improvement. Root cause analysis of failures that have occurred is the most common application.. However, causal analysis (understanding why things occur) and process/design improvement (changing how things work) are fundamental to all problem solving. Cause Mapping is simple and effective for all types of issues.

Causal analysis is focused on the cause-and-effect relationships within an issue. The value of causal analysis is that the cause-and-effect principle will remain the same tomorrow as it was yesterday. In the future, causes will still be required to produce effects. Therefore, the causes of a problem that occurred in the past can be developed into lessons learned that improve the process in the future.

Since the cause and effect principle will continue to be at work in the future, issues that could occur in the future can be analyzed using cause-and-effect. Because the issue has not happened yet, the analysis will identify the possible causes that could result in the issue.

DID vs. COULD

It is important to distinguish whether an analysis is for something that DID occur (in the past) or something that COULD occur (in the future). Something that DID occur has specific causes that produced the issue and there is evidence of what specific causes were required. Something that COULD occur has many possible causes that are identified based on past experience or an understanding of how the system works.

Performing an analysis of what COULD cause an issue is a worthwhile effort, especially when a design or work process is still under development. This type of analysis assesses the possible causes that could produce the issue. Because there are many possible causes for any effect, these analyses are usually broad in the number of possible causes considered, but the analyses do not go very deep into the detailed specifics of each cause. The solutions that are developed from the causal analysis will cover a broad spectrum of causes, but the solutions may not be detailed or focused enough to be fully effective in controlling the causes. Often an issue still occurs despite having implemented solutions to mitigate the known ways that failures that COULD occur.

Two common analysis methods that focus almost exclusively on the causes that COULD occur are Failure Mode Effects Analysis and Reliability-Centered Maintenance.

An analysis of what DID cause an issue to occur in the past has the capability to uncover the specific details of how the issued happened. However, many organizations do not perform detailed analyses of individual incidents, because they are distracted by the other possible causes that could have produced the incident. Expanding the analysis to include more possible causes creates the impression of a more thorough analysis, but a truly thorough analysis of an issue that DID occur will instead focus on describing the causes precisely based on how they occurred. The analysis drives deeper into the details by determining why each cause occurred exactly the way that it did. More specific causes produce a better understanding of how the incident occurred and more specific, more effective solutions.

When analyzing issues that happened in the past or could happen in the future, the cause-and-effect principle will work for issues with either a positive impact or a negative impact. The objective of an analysis is to produce the positive impact or prevent the negative impact.