Root Causes

I spent a recent morning with an arborist examining the health of the trees in my yard. A large Live Oak was a point of concern and I was eager to see what could be done to save this majestic tree . The arborist discovered a fungus indicative of a deeper problem, stress caused by root system damage and severe weather conditions. Our tree expert took the time to determine the root cause of the problem and develop a strategy to ensure the long-term health of the tree. His evaluation and our discussion of his findings made me realize that treating symptoms can provide temporary relief, but expert analysis is critical to discover and correct underlying problems. As a leader, it is your responsibility to determine the root cause of problems within your organization before they become too difficult to correct.

In his blog post Proximate vs Root Causes: Why You Should Keep Digging to Find the Answer, Shane Parrish writes about using mental models to understand the difference between proximate and root causes. “The mental model of proximate vs. root causes is a more advanced version of this reasoning, which involves looking beyond what appears to be the cause and finding the real cause. As a higher form of understanding, it is useful for creative and innovative thinking. It can also help us to solve problems, rather than relying on band-aid solutions." Leaders must take the time and allocate resources to discover issues causing greatest stress in their organization and develop solutions to ensure those problems do not recur.

As a leader, what are you doing to understand the root cause of challenges affecting your organization? What can you do to determine why problems occur and stop them from happening again? Are you providing quick fixes to provide temporary relief for the symptoms, or are you dedicating the necessary time and resources to analyze problems and develop effective solutions? Does your staff have the appropriate training and authority to make decisions to resolve problems and improve the effectiveness of your organization? Are you challenging your people to evolve in their roles to get to the root causes of problems and truly help the organization?

Contact me to discover the services that DA Advisory Services can provide for your organizational development needs, from helping determine root causes of problems to understanding how the behaviors of your employees and teams affect your entire organization.