Is your business organization plagued by any of the following?
- Poor Sales
- Negative Employee Relations
- Safety Incidents
- Manufacturing/Equipment Failures
- Unacceptable Customer Satisfaction
What if there were knowledgeable and dedicated professionals who were able to effectively improve your organization’s problem areas? What if these professionals could zero in, and identify and analyze these problems? And what if they could fix these problems, effectively AND permanently?
If you answered “yes” to any of these, your business may benefit from Cause Mapping.
How Can Cause Mapping Help You?
What is “Cause Mapping”? Essentially, it’s a simple, 3-step problem-solving process for defining, analyzing and solving ANY type of problem. Through Cause Mapping, individuals and groups can improve the way they analyze, document, communicate and solve problems. Cause Mapping is based on three powerful principles that provide a clear understanding of effective Root Cause Analysis:
- Systems-thinking: this involves the concept that the parts of a system will act differently when isolated from its other system parts, or the environment. Basically, it means that each and every part is essential to the greater whole; therefore, attention to detail is crucial.
- Cause-and-effect: considered the basis of all problem-solving. Without it, organizations waste significant time on speculation, opinion and incomplete analyses. A cause-and-effect approach is the opposite of the “stuff just happens” mentality.
- Visual communication: all images, ideas, and information you view and/or read.
When it comes to root cause analysis, you may want to think of your business as a flower. Just removing the “weed” (a.k.a. your problem) isn’t enough; you have to get to the “root” to solve the problem for good. It’s the same with work-related problems. As the Cause Mapping approach illustrates, the root is actually a system of causes. And any one of these has possible solutions to prevent the problem from occurring. Unfortunately, many organizations try to identify the root cause(s) of a problem.
But that’s the genius of root cause analysis: it identifies both the obvious and the underlying causes of an issue, so that specific solutions can be implemented. A complete root cause analysis consists of:
- A clear definition of the issue
- A thorough analysis supported with evidence
- And, a specific action plan for implementing the solutions
Root cause analysis is essential for process improvement and six-sigma initiatives. However, with root cause analysis, investigations are usually conducted reactively. But the Cause Mapping method enables these investigations to be conducted proactively. This has two big benefits: 1.) it enables the development of visual troubleshooting guides on specific operations; 2.) it serves as a risk management tool, predicting future potential for failure. Once these defects are removed, processes improve – it’s that simple! And “simple” is the key to Cause Mapping; this process is based on sound principles, so there is no new terminology or acronyms to learn.
With Cause Mapping, you and your employees learn the very basics of analysis. Basically, ANY problem can be broken down into simple cause-and-effect relationships. All it takes is the construction of a Cause Map, a visual representation of the problem’s cause-and-effect relationships.
A Cause Map is a lot like a street map, but it shows the relationship of causes, not streets. The Cause Map literally shows how all of the causes piece together to create the problem. The visual Cause Map provides a simple way to literally see what actually happened! Cause Maps are effective for day-to-day issues or extremely complex situations requiring very thorough and clear documentation.
Can Cause Mapping Help You?
Who will benefit from Cause Mapping? Let’s see… managers, supervisors, engineers, analysts, technicians, basically everyone in an organization! You see, Cause Mapping is based on the principle of cause-and-effect. This principle is a constant, regardless of the situation.
The truth is, there are NO problems within a company that violate the principle of cause-and-effect! Therefore, a consistent problem-solving methodology for defining, analyzing and solving problems can be applied across an organization … regardless of department or group. Regardless of your industry, number of employees, profits and earnings, or particular issue, root cause analysis is essential for problem-solving.
So yes, any industry can benefit from Cause Mapping, including: manufacturing, refining, power, healthcare, aerospace, military, IT, and food processing sectors. And, Cause Mapping can be utilized for a wide variety of problems within an organization, including:
- Operations problems
- Safety incidents
- Environmental issues
- Manufacturing/Equipment deficiencies
- Delivery Issues
- Unclear work practices
- Ineffective communication
- Poor customer satisfaction
- Low sales
- Missed service levels
- AND MANY MORE!
What Does ThinkReliability Do?
Considered to be true innovators in the Cause Mapping process, the professionals at ThinkReliability have provided phenomenal success to an ever-growing number of organizations world-wide. Essentially, ThinkReliability provides two basic services, Cause Mapping workshops and investigations services, both on-site and remotely, to different disciplines within a variety of industries.
1) Cause Mapping - Effective Root Cause Analysis Workshops ThinkReliability offers both Client Workshops and Public Workshops. Both workshops provide employers and employees with crucial problem-solving skills, as they ensure that the problem areas are eliminated, now and forever. There are three basic themes to ThinkReliability’s workshops and consulting services:
Goals - Understanding the importance defining every incident, problem, project or initiative within the context of the organization’s overall goals.
Principles - Ensuring that the organization aligns with the principles of system reliability for a consistent approach.
People - Recognizing that the individuals in an organization possess an incredible amount of knowledge and experience that is not being utilized effectively.
Client Workshops — the main goal of these workshops is to develop and perfect the problem-solving skills and knowledge of your organization’s workforce. Typically, these are two-day training sessions designed for up to 30 attendees. Attendees learn the basics of root cause analysis, and are provided with examples and practice exercises. Upon completing the event, attendees are prepared to conduct, lead and document a complete investigation. For more information on the Cause Mapping workshop click here (hyperlink).
Additionally, ThinkReliability can deliver Cause Mapping workshops in a variety of formats to meet your specific needs, including: One-day, Two-day, Three-day, Four-day, Half-day, Two-hour and 30-minute Overviews.
Public Workshops – ThinkReliability offers a two-day workshop open to the public in cities across the United States. These workshops are designed fro those who are new to root cause analysis, as well as advanced users with extensive experience that are interested in evaluating the Cause Mapping approach to root cause analysis for their organization. To check the listing of upcoming Public Workshops by city and date, click here.
Why Does ThinkReliability Do What it Does?
While effective, root cause analysis may not be enough. Most organizations search only for the root cause(s) of problems. But Cause Mapping allows us to proactively identify a problem’s potential causes, even as all of the possible solutions are revealed. Then, the best solutions are selected from the possible solutions. The bottom line? Cause Mapping enables us to uncover and put into use the ideal actions to prevent occurrence.
By implementing Cause Mapping, we canprovide organizations with simple yet effective problem-solving processes, now and in the future! Employees receive all of the information and tools necessary to create a complete picture of the problem. And as added benefits, the entire communication process improves, and employees feel empowered.
Cause Mapping doesn’t have to involve every employee (although managers are encouraged to attend). As little as one person in an organization can apply Cause Mapping on a single problem. Demonstrating results on just one problem is an effective way to grow the approach across an entire group, department or organization. Likewise, many companies consider Cause Mapping to be their corporate approach to analyzing, documenting, communicating and solving problems.
On the following web pages, you will find important, interesting and in-depth information about ThinkReliability and the Cause Mapping services we offer. Your organization deserves to run as effectively as possible. And we can help you get there!
>>View our On-Line Presentation demonstrating the Cause Mapping methodology using the historical example of when the Titanic sank.