Root Cause Analysis General Tools

Madeleine Vaudo, Kevin Chen, Tom Salvon and Ritchie Wilson

Mind Maps

What are they?

● Diagram that visually outlines information● Created around a single word or text● Associate ideas, words and concepts● Major categories are connected to the

central node● Lesser categories are sub-branches of

larger branched● Can be hand drawn or made on the

computer

When should they be used?

● Useful in almost any situation!● Problem Solving● Brainstorming● Relationship Representation● Can help you better understand some

alternative whys when conducting a 5 why analysis

Template

Examples

Force Field Analysis

What are they?

● Developed by Kurt Lewin in the 1940s● Diagram representing opposing forces

that act on an event● Improves understanding and strategizing

about the forces involved● Decision affected by driving forces and

restraining forces● Helps develop strategies to overcome

obstacles

When should they be used?

● When implementing a change that involves or affects people

● To understand and identify factors effecting any decision

● Helps build consensus on results found in the fishbone diagram (Ishikawa)

● Leads to team discussion

When should they not be used?

● Effective when used prior to making a decision

● Ineffective when used to analyze why a decision was made after a change has occurred

Template

Examples

Fault Trees

What are they?

● Boolean Logic Tree● Analyzes one effect● Sequence of causes

○ Each cause is an independent event○ Each cause has a known probability

Example

A. Too many callsB. Tech failureC. Process confusingD. Process redundantE. Unlikable SalespersonF. Billing issuesG. Out of StockH. Have not reordered

Dissatisfied customer =

P(A) = 0.2, P(B) = 0.1P(C) = 0.1, P(D) = 0.3, P(E) = 0.8P(F) = 0.1, P(G) = 0.2, P(H) = 0.6

P(E) is high, but not a root causeP(A) is low, but is a root cause

Example

When should they be used?

● Traditionally for hardware failures● Any complex system with events of

known probabilitiesWhen shouldn't they be used?● Risks are difficult to measure● Relationships between events are unclear

Scatter Plots

What Are They?

● Quantitative analysis● Focused on data representation between

dependent and independent variables● 2 or 3 Dimensional graphs● Points plotted based on relationship

between two given variables● "Best fit" line drawn through data to

demonstrate trend in results

When are Scatter Plots Useful?

● Useful for gathering data on a variable outside the experimenter's control.

● Used for isolating and determining correlation patterns between variables.

● Used to determine a certain "confidence level" that unplotted data will follow trend shown by the best fit line.

When are Scatter Plots Not Useful?

● Scatter plots are not useful for very large or small sets of data

Example (2D)

Temperature vs. Ice Cream Sales

Example (3D)Gas Mileage and Acceleration Time (0-60mph) vs. Power

Sourceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_maphttp://leanman.hubpages.com/hub/5-Whys-root-cause-analysis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fault_tree_analysishttp://www.fault-tree.net/papers/ericson-fta-history.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scatter_plothttp://www.mathsisfun.com/data/scatter-xy-plots.htmlhttp://www.originlab.com/index.aspx?go=Products/Origin/Graphing/3D

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_06.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_field_analysis

Wysocki, Robert K. Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub., 2012. Print.