Reaching the solutions stage is a significant moment in every root cause analysis (RCA) investigation. After all, one of the goals of RCA is to identify solutions to reduce the risk of similar incidents in the future. Approaching this goal is an important stage of your investigation, but don’t underestimate the valuable work needed in the solutions stage before you start celebrating RCA completion.
In between identifying solutions and implementing them, there’s an important step: evaluation. Skipping this step can result in a long list of action items, which dilutes focus and overwhelms resources. Taking the time to evaluate solutions is an investment that pays off in successful implementation and sustainable improvement. Here are my tips for effectively evaluating solutions to build a realistic, achievable implementation plan.
Brainstorm Solutions Across the Cause Map™ Diagram
As the investigation progresses, certain causes stand out as particularly ripe for applying solutions. Causes that are clearly undesirable—such as a broken part, a lack of necessary equipment, or a skipped step—are obvious “red flags.” People often share ideas for controlling these causes throughout the investigation, and they when do, I add them to the Cause Map diagram above the causes they are designed to control.
Thus, it’s not uncommon to have multiple solutions identified before you’ve reached the solutions stage of the investigation. But don’t rest on your laurels. Take the time to brainstorm more solutions across the entire Cause Map diagram. I recommend walking through the diagram from left to right, with your team (which should include those closest to the work), one cause at a time. Ask if there are any ways to change, control, eliminate, or prevent each cause. Remind everyone to keep an open mind and to avoid evaluating possible solutions as they are being proposed. You and your team are just looking for ideas at this point!
Connect Solutions With the Causes They Control
As you brainstorm solution ideas, it’s helpful to remind everyone about the relationship between solutions and causes. This is especially important if your group includes people who are unfamiliar with RCA. To reduce the risk of similar incidents in the future, we need to identify solutions that control the specific causes we’ve identified on our Cause Map diagram. If a solution doesn’t control any cause, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea—but, it won’t reduce the risk of this kind of problem occurring again.
Show the group how solutions are placed above the causes they are designed to control on the Cause Map diagram. Point out that you can have more than one solution to control a single cause, and that you don’t need to add a solution to every cause to reduce risk. Some causes are more controllable than others.
Evaluate Solutions Based on Implementation and Planned Results
After you and your team have explored a variety of options for controlling causes across the Cause Map diagram, it’s time to evaluate your proposed solutions in two dimensions:
- Implementation (effort in): The work, cost, and resources required to implement the solution.
- Planned results (results out): The results we expect to achieve from implementing the solution (risk reduction).
As you evaluate solutions in these dimensions, consider the big picture. For example, if a solution involves new equipment, implementation will likely include not only the cost of the equipment itself but also the labor cost of people across multiple disciplines involved in its design, installation, and maintenance. Time is another important factor—think about how long implementation will take and when the company aims to see results. Of course, everyone wants quick outcomes. Realistic milestones, like production schedules or an upcoming outage window, offer a more practical timeline for evaluation purposes.
After you assess solutions with the criteria of implementation effort and planned results, you can compare them by using the Solutions Matrix.
ThinkReliability Solutions Matrix
It’s important to point out that the Solutions Matrix is a qualitative tool, not a quantitative one. The purpose of the matrix is to differentiate your solutions so you can get a clearer view of which ones are better than others.
Solutions that fall in the top-left quadrant are relatively easy to implement and are estimated to deliver more reduction of risk. In other words, they’re well worth pursuing. Solutions in the bottom-left quadrant tend to be quick fixes—they don’t provide a lot of value, but they don’t take a lot of effort either. When a solution falls in the bottom-right quadrant, you can be pretty sure it’s off the table as far as implementation. It can be difficult and/or expensive, and it doesn’t do much to reduce the risk of future problems. No thanks.
Don’t Be Afraid of High-Effort Solutions
The top-right quadrant is where things get a bit tricky. When a solution ends up here, people think it’ll be an automatic “no” from management. But in my experience, that’s not always true. My advice to RCA investigation facilitators on these solutions is: “Don’t expect ‘no.’ Expect to be challenged and prepare accordingly.”
When you have a solution in the top-right quadrant, it’s smart to do some pre-work to quantify implementation and planned results. You don’t need to build an exhaustively detailed budget, but it’s a good idea to dig into the details of various costs that will be incurred and put a rough number on the expected benefits. Revisit the total cost of the problem you’re investigating, which you’ve already defined in the Problem Outline, for a quick gut check. A high-dollar solution might be worth it if you’re dealing with a multi-million-dollar problem.
Ultimately, the solution or solutions you select depends on your organization’s acceptable level of risk and how much you’d like to reduce the risk of this kind of incident reoccurring in the future.
Evaluation is Not Elimination
The point of evaluation is to bring the best solutions to the forefront. But that doesn’t mean you should discard all your less-than-best solutions.
I recommend keeping all the solutions you’ve identified in your Cause Mapping® file. Preserving all identified solutions (whether they are initially chosen for implementation or not) allows you and your company to adapt to evolving circumstances. A solution that doesn’t make the cut today might be ideal when new technologies emerge, leadership priorities shift, business drivers change, or unexpected challenges arise. Even if the solutions you implement fall short, having alternatives on deck allows you to pivot quickly.
