To be effective in team root cause problem solving, end users must understand the new problem-solving paradigm that is, in effect, a way of thinking and communicating about a problem.

Designed to facilitate team synergy and solve complex or multifaceted problems, this six-step process teaches team members to identify the source of a problem rather than attacking the symptoms; discover root causes and create innovative and viable solutions. The process is team user-friendly incorporating the intuitive/creative and analytical/rational into a complete team problem solving process that can be used on a daily basis to solve problems within organizations.

Creative Root Cause Analysis is a process designed to identify, analyze, and solve complex problems in a team setting. It is a logical, three-phase, sequenced process conducted in a series of six steps that guides a team from the initial recognition that something is wrong through the creation of a detailed, tactical implementation plan to correct the situation.

Too often, organizations persist in attacking symptoms rather than the problem sources. Unfortunately, existing problem solving rituals barely probe below the surface. Linear, single source cause-and-effect models are sufficient if one is working on a simple, single source issue, but a linear approach is self-limiting when it comes to dealing with complex, systematic problems. Thus, the root causes of problems persist, undisturbed, to feed symptoms and grow.

CRCA reaches far below the surface to get at the roots of a problem, both primary and tributary. It provides a logical, orderly, and yet innovative and creative approach to problem analysis and resolution. CRCA can be accurately described as the next step in the task of putting synergy to work in real-life situations. This method provides a structure and process for teams to take problems and work them through to solutions. It provides a practical model to facilitate collaborative problem solving that has proven itself to be effective from the executive suite to the shop floor.

Companies, who are trained in and use Creative Root Cause Analysis, report that it has become the method of choice within their organizations producing dramatic results, i.e., improved quality, morale, productivity and profits. Teams are enthusiastic users of CRCA.

Tips to keep in mind when facilitating Creative Root Cause Analysis Team Problem Solving (or any team).

✦ Follow the CRCA Process: The most important thing to remember is: “follow the process,” use the “tool.”

✦ Commit Time and Energy: Every team member must be committed to solving the problem and be present at every team meeting for the duration.

✦ Patient/Affirming Listening: This is incorporated in the process, but it can never be over emphasized. Time pressure and closed minds are nearly always the enemies of effective problem solving.

✦ Keep Discussions Level: Every participant must be free to agree, disagree, and question. Every question deserves a rational response. The expert or the boss must be willing to explain. All members must express their own rational opinions, not what they think others want to hear.

✦ Be Responsible to Learn and Grow: You cannot solve a problem with the same line of thinking that created the problem. Thus, it is important to adopt a learning attitude. This opens minds to discovery of new insights, and new insights lead to new solutions.

The Team Communication Cycle is complete when the team members agree or consent to agree with the answer to the Probing Question. Agreement or consent to agree is the “go” or “no/go” signal in each step of the problem solving process. If a team moves ahead in the problem solving process without agreement at any point, the outcome will be in jeopardy.

Agreeing, as a team, on the answer to the Probing Question is the ultimate goal of the Team Communication Cycle. Most teams will arrive at agreement through the course of open, rational, issue-focused discussion. When there is not unanimous agreement by the team, it may move to Consensus Agreement: each team member “gives his/her consent to agree,” which is to say that the answer is acceptable and workable for me.

Consensus may be reached through a variety of Agreement Strategies listed below in order of descending viability:

Synergy
Collaboration
Cooperation
Voting
Compromise

Team recognition, validation and agreement are the “gold” of this process. When each of the six Probing Questions in the Creative Root Cause Analysis problem solving process is asked and answered using this Team Communication Cycle, synergy is powerfully facilitated.

Summary: The Team Communication Cycle

1. Ask Probing Questions
2. Allow Time to Find Potential Answers
3. Report All Potential Answers
4. Discuss and Analyze All Potential Answers
5. Agree as a Team on the Answer

Driven by the Probing Questions that access the knowledge, experience, insight and intuition of the team, the Team Communication Cycle gathers a large quantity of information. All is relevant in some way; some more than others. Often the process of sharing thoughts and ideas will lead to new insights. Now that the information has been gathered, the next task is to process the information through focused dialogue into a good answer to the Probing Question.

As a team, evaluate, modify, expand and clarify all potential answers through open, logical, rational, issue-focused discussion. Reasonable, issue-focused discussion is basic to CRCA. Intuition will guide the team to the potential answers. Rational discussion will lead the team to a synergistic answer to the initial Probing Question and, ultimately, the viable solution to the problem.

Discussion is the “sifting” in the prospector’s metaphor. It is through rational discussion that the team identifies and discards the worthless “pebbles and sands” of partial understanding, blind spots, invalid assumptions, irrational responses, prejudice and bias. It is also through rational discussion that the team identifies and captures the “golden nuggets” of knowledge, understanding, ability, insight, intuition, and resources. It is through the “fire” of appropriate critical/analytical methods that the insights are refined and purified.

The Communication PRO and Making Team Decisions are useful tools in teaching effective communication and decision making to teams. Both are available in the products listed to the left of this post.

Note: There are many investigative tools that may be available and used based upon the experience of the team and the nature of the problem. In most situations, reasonable, issue-focused discussion will lead the team to verifiable answers.

The following tools have been used successfully by teams in analyzing and verifying potential answers: Comparison Process chart, Trend analysis, Change analysis, Event charting, SWOT chart, Flow chart, SPC chart, Pareto diagram, Barrier analysis, Cause-effect diagrams, Advantage-disadvantage.

These tools, while useful, have very limited scopes. Several need to be combined to problem solve effectively. Nearly every discipline and industry have specialized verification tools and procedures. It is at this point in the discussion process that such methods can be appropriately applied for analyzing and verifying root causes. The discussion process must continue until all answers have been validated or eliminated.

Each team member reports his/her potential answers to the rest of the team. (I suggest that thoughts be reported/shared one thought, one person at a time, in some pattern of rotation that gives everyone an opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas to the team. By offering one idea at a time, in turn, each team member contributes to building a complete list of information).

It is recognized that great insight and some poor ideas will be intermixed. At this point, it is important to receive all potential answers without discussion, evaluation or judgment. (Reason and judgment applied too soon will stifle communication and foster risk aversion among team members. If this happens, the information flow is retarded and the likelihood of solving the problem is jeopardized). The danger in team problem solving is not that the team will be misguided by misinformation (the team can assess information later) but that the team will not get the important information in the first place.

In the prospecting metaphor I used in an earlier post, this is where all the material deposits are piled up for “panning.” The team will have found “gold nuggets” of knowledge, understanding, ability, expertise, insight, intuition and resource, but they are still mixed in with the worthless “sand and pebbles” of partial understanding, blind spots, invalid assumptions and irrational responses. Prejudice and bias will also be captured in the “panning.” This is not a problem because these things will be sorted out in the next step of the Team Communication Cycle.

The objective of “report and receive all potential answers” is to collect as much information as possible. We can always sort out poor information later, but if you never get the information in the first place, the outcome will be retarded.

Circular Response Technique: If there are seven (7) or more members on the team, I suggest the use of the Circular Response Technique where each person offers one statement or answer in rotation. No one can speak twice until everyone has spoken once. By offering one idea at a time, in turn, each team member contributes to building the list of information.

Dyads, Triads, Quads: In very large groups where it is impractical for all members to speak, use small group communication patterns: (dyads) two (2) people discussing a probing question; (triads) three (3) people discussing a probing question; (quads) four (4) people discussing a probing question. By having each small group record all reported information on flip charts and then reporting to the larger group, volumes of information can be collected in a relatively short period of time.

Vital to the process is the time needed to find all potential answers:

✦ Everyone needs time to reflect, inquire, study, and learn.

✦ The number and quality of potential answers are valued.

✦ Time allows for introspection, interviewing, and investigation.

✦ Time facilitates a greater number of participants.

✦Time reduces peer influence, “group think,” and “follow the leader.”

✦ Time gives team members opportunity to record all potential answers.

If you ask a probing question that causes people to contemplate an answer, then it is only reasonable that time is allowed for that contemplation.

Providing this time allows every team member to consider his/her own knowledge, understanding, ability, insight, intuition, resource, access and energy. Of course, an assortment of misperceptions, blind spots, invalid assumptions, irrational responses, prejudice and bias will be thought of as well. But that’s part of the process. The task at hand is to gather all potential answers to the probing question.

Time provides opportunity to dig for insight. Team members need this time to reflect, inquire, study, and learn. The search is important and sometimes finding answers takes time. The process must provide the time needed to find potential answers by:

✦Introspection – each participant should inquire internally for answers to the probing question. Since team members are a potential source of knowledge, understanding, ability, insight, intuition and resource, then the first logical place to search for potential answers is for each participant to ask: What do I know? What have I observed? What do I think? etc.

✦Interviewing – each participant should ask stakeholders, witnesses, end users, customers, operators, designers, bystanders, or people close to the “problem,” the probing question and record their answers.

✦Investigation – each participant should read the documentation, data, study the evidence, visit the location, examine the physical evidence and record what is found. Looking under every rock; namely, people, practice, policy, procedures, equipment, environment (internal and external) materials, management, training, communication, supervision, changes, designs, attitudes, morale, behaviors, values, beliefs. Check out every hunch. Pay attention to clues. Trust your intuition.

Special Note: The greatest danger in problem solving is not the danger of gathering bogus or useless information, but never getting the needed information. Problem solvers will need to sift through worthless input to find the worthwhile resources.

A Word of Caution: Brainstorming, while extremely popular, is overused. In most situations, its application stifles problem solving. It is recommended that the use of brainstorming be controlled. Why?

• People forget what they have to say while waiting to speak.
• It perpetuates “group think” because people tend to follow the most vocal or articulate person, resulting in a limited range of thought.
• Spontaneous response has a tendency to be “surface.”
• Brainstorming tends to be dominated by the outspoken, boisterous and overbearing to the exclusion of the reserved, soft-spoken, quiet and effective.

The asking and answering of probing questions is the propellant of the Creative Root Cause Analysis (CRCA) process. This simple technique of asking open-ended questions is extremely powerful and enables a problem-solving team to glean the knowledge, understanding, ability, expertise, insight and intuition from any and all members of a team.

A probing question is one that cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” but requires the individual to draw on his/her own knowledge, experience, insight, and intuition in order to formulate a response. The very nature of a probing question requires a search for an answer. When you ask probing questions, you engage the mind and genius of others.

The CRCA process is driven by inquiry and curiosity through the asking and answering of probing questions. Therefore, the probing question initiates both the communication process and the problem-solving process through each of the six steps. Every one of the six steps is driven by a probing question that engages each and every team member. Through this, the team members are motivated and inspired to initiate the search for answers; i.e., share their observations and insights on the problem at hand.

In the Creative Root Cause Analysis process, the asking of a probing question is the process mechanism (”yoke”) harnessing the power to the two powerful power sources in team problem-solving: The six-step problem solving process and The five-step communication cycle.

Asking a probing question:

1. Initiates the discussion process.
2. Drives the problem-solving process




3. Motivates team participation in looking for answers.
4. Drives inquisition.
5. Facilitates synergy

Remember, the criteria of a probing question (as stated by my previous post):

✦ Cannot be answered “yes” or “no.”

✦ Requires a thoughtful explanation.

✦Draws on the knowledge, experience, insight, expertise and intuition of the person answering the question.

✦ Requires a search for an answer.

✦ Has no bias or predetermined answer.

✦ Facilitates synergy through honest inquiry.

What are the six elements of a Probing Question?

1. It cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no.”

2. It requires a thoughtful explanation.

3. It draws on the knowledge, experience, insight, and intuition of the person answering the question.

4. It has no bias or predetermined answer.

5. It facilitates synergy through honest inquiry.

6. It causes others to search for an answer.

The Advanced Team System includes highly effective tools and processes for Teamwork, Problem Solving and Strategic Planning. These are products and training of the Center for Creative Teamwork (all featured in the left side bar of this blog). These processes are built around the use of Probing Questions and the Team Communication Cycle.

These two elements are unique and distinguishing features because most processes teach the use of “yes/no” and controlling questions that actually reduce effectiveness.

Why are Probing Questions so effective? It is because they engage others by facilitating inquiry and curiosity. When people become curious, they begin to wonder. When they wonder, they start thinking about the questions and their subconscious minds begin to filter through thoughts, ideas and experiences in an attempt to address the inquiry and wonder. Soon they are fully engaged and cannot help but offer their insights. As each team member answers the Probing Question, based upon his/her own unique insight and experience, the team collects the information needed for a rational outcome and focused discussion using the Team Communication Cycle.

A team is two or more people working together to accomplish a common purpose. If two or more people are seeking to work together, successful communication is critical. The CRCA Team Communication Cycle is an effective way to facilitate communication within the team.

Teams are a resource of tremendous potential and tapping the genius, insight and potential in any team is the challenge of team communication. Individuals who make up the team can bring a vast knowledge, understanding, ability, expertise, insight, intuition, access and energy to the team, yet these assets are not immediately obvious or easily accessible. We have an unmined deposit.

While the team contains the untapped resources of great knowledge and energy, it also harbors misperceptions, partial understanding, blind spots, invalid assumptions, irrational responses, prejudice and bias. The key to successful teamwork is to separate the two (untapped resources) (misperceptions) utilizing the former and discarding the latter. Just as the prospector panned for gold and carefully sorted the gold from the mud, a team must select the genius of insight from the mud of misinformation.

The CRCA Team Communication Cycle, a specifically designed communication method, facilitates the team’s gathering of information and the sorting of the valuable from the worthless. It is a very specific method used to facilitate teamwork by managing communication. It utilizes the same probing questions that drive the team process to stimulate each team member to draw on the pool of resources he/she brings to the task in order to utilize the collective resources for the team.

The challenge of an effective team facilitator, like a prospector of old, is to separate what is valuable from what is not. While teams generate a great deal of information, not everything is useful. To collect and sort information, effective teams follow the five sequential steps of the CRCA Team Communication Cycle:

1. Ask a probing question.

2. Provide time to find potential answers.

3. Report all potential answers.

4. Discuss and analyze all potential answers.

5. Agree as a team on the answer.

A Tactical Plan details the implementation of solutions. To complete the problem-solving task, the team must develop and implement a Tactical Plan.

The Tactical Plan Step identifies the resources necessary to implement the solutions, organizes the resources, establishes a timetable and assigns responsibility and accountability.

There are four areas of consideration in the tactical planning for implementing the solution:

1. What are the step-by-step details and actions of implementing the solutions?
Develop a project plan with the details and actions necessary to implement the solution.

2. What are the resources needed to implement the solutions?
Resources include time, people, material, equipment and finances. Include information such as job responsibilities, qualifications for people, working networks and a description of the necessary resources.

3. What are the target dates for implementing each step?
Sequence the details and actions on a time line.

4. Who is responsible and accountable to implement each step?
The team should choose the appropriate people to carry out the project details. Accountability, responsibility and authority should be assigned to enable people to accomplish their goals.

For a more detailed and thorough planning process, it is recommended that the team use Planning Team Strategy, a team strategic planning process listed to the left of this post.