You've Completed a Cause Mapping® Workshop... Now What?

I still remember how I felt after attending my first Cause Mapping^® workshop twenty years ago. My mind was buzzing with fresh ideas, and I couldn’t wait to put them into action. Every problem felt like an opportunity to dig deeper, connect the dots, and uncover solutions I hadn’t seen before. But as the excitement settled in, I found myself wondering—where do I start?

After any training, the best way to solidify what you’ve learned is to dive in and start applying it right away. Here are my tips for getting started.

Don’t Wait for the “Perfect” Problem

It’s tempting to wait for a big, high-impact event to put your Cause Mapping skills to the test, but that moment might not come any time soon. It’s more important to just get started soon after a workshop before cobwebs and rust begin to build in your brain! So, consider starting with a lower-impact problem.

For example, look for an issue that creates rework or error correction by you or others in your “sphere of influence,” or one that is bothersome to the frontline people you support in your role. When you choose a problem that impacts the frontline, they will be willing to help provide evidence, details, and solution ideas—because they are frustrated by that problem, too! By tackling something smaller and more manageable, you’ll build your confidence and get comfortable applying your new skills without the pressure of waiting for the “perfect” event.

Seize the Opportunity to Tackle a Chronic Issue

In the world of reliability, we often talk about two types of failures: acute and chronic. Acute failures are rare but tend to have a big impact on operational goals. Chronic failures, on the other hand, happen more frequently but with less severe consequences in each instance. Organizations usually prioritize investigating acute failures because their impact is impossible to ignore. But when annualizing the impact of different failures (and examining them with tools like Pareto analysis), chronic failures are often comparable to acute failures in terms of their overall impact on operational goals.

That’s why I recommend starting by investigating a chronic issue. It’s an opportunity to sharpen your skills on a problem that doesn’t get a lot of attention on a daily basis—but solving it could deliver big benefits.

Bring People into Your Process

When you’re first getting started, you might be tempted to wait to bring people in until you’ve practiced and perfected your skills. That would be a missed opportunity.

In our workshops, we always recommend involving the frontline in your investigations. As the “first responders” to problems in the field, they know the typical issues that arise, have insights others might miss, and see evidence before anyone else. Including the people closest to the work leads to better analysis, better solutions, and over time, a stronger problem-solving/collaborating culture.

These are my top three tips for engaging the frontline in identifying and digging into problems with Cause Mapping root cause analysis.

1: Start with Data

Share performance data that highlights sources of lost production capacity over a set period. Use this as a starting point to discuss with the frontline. Ask which issues they’ve seen firsthand and encourage them to share their experiences.

2: Engage on the Ground

If you don’t have data, stop by a work area—such as the control room, maintenance shop, or ongoing work in the field—and talk to the team about tasks currently in progress. Ask about the scope, the why behind the work, what usually goes well, and challenges they face. Following up with deeper questions and showing genuine interest in the details might seem unusual or surprising to them at first, but it builds trust. This approach often reveals gaps between how work is done and how it’s ideally supposed to be done, which can uncover problems to address with Cause Mapping root cause analysis.

3: Collaborate and Create Buy-In

Once you’ve gathered initial insights from the frontline, bring them into the Cause Mapping process. Encourage them to share their ideas for potential solutions and how to implement them. By actively listening and implementing some of their suggestions, you show that their input matters, building trust and buy-in. This collaborative approach not only leads to better solutions but also empowers the team to take ownership of the problem-solving process, turning them into advocates who can inspire their peers to get involved.

Build Confidence, Create Quick Wins, and Keep Learning

I’m sharing these tips because they worked for me. When I first applied Cause Mapping root cause analysis to a real-life problem, I selected a chronic problem in an area of the plant that I knew well. It gave a chance to build my confidence as a facilitator, but the best part was learning alongside my team. Before we investigated this issue, my colleagues and I didn’t fully understand how our roles and processes connected. Building a Cause Map™ diagram together made everything so much clearer to all of us. The result? A quick win for the plant, as we implemented solutions that reduced the impact of the issue. It also got people excited about what we could solve next.

You’re not going to get everything perfect the first time—I certainly didn’t! But that’s part of the learning process. As you apply your learnings, you’ll quickly see where you’re confident and where you might need extra guidance. When that happens, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re here to offer tips and resources that are tailored to your journey. Stay up to date with new resources, case studies, and guides with our weekly newsletter.