An Exercise on Root Cause Analysis A Diagnostic Tool for Assessing Organizational Conditions Acknowledgement: Images are © of Pixar Studios from the film A Bugs Life

Grasshoppers food demands Senior advisors Duration of harvest season Rejection of innovation Worker culture Leadership transition Inadequate supply of food for the colony Pressing problem identified by client ? 2

Grasshoppers food demands Senior advisors Duration of harvest season Rejection of innovation Worker culture Leadership transition Other bugs harvest same food Food dont ripen at the same time Need for control Hold on to power Eat a lot Protection for ants Whose the source Waste of time Follow me Just do it Limited solutions Worrier type Inadequate supply of food for the colony Pressing problem identified by client ? 3

Duration of harvest season Other bugs harvest same food Food dont ripen at the same time Inadequate supply of food for the colony Pressing problem identified by client ? Exercise: Assume that this is the root cause. To what extent can the problem be resolved? 4

Grasshoppers food demands Eat a lot Protection for ants Rejection of innovation Whose the source Waste of time Inadequate supply of food for the colony Pressing problem identified by client ? If this was the root cause, is eliminating the grasshoppers a viable proposition? If this was the root cause what practices or organizational structures will be introduced to encourage creative thinking and translate this into innovation? 5

Senior advisors Need for control Hold on to power Worker culture Follow me Just do it Leadership transition Limited solutions Worrier type Inadequate supply of food for the colony Pressing problem identified by client ? How would you handle the senior advisors? What would you do about the organizational culture? What supports will be adopted to build the leadership competencies? 6

Inadequate supply of food for the colony Pressing problem identified by client ! Ask questions to arrive at the Root Cause/s Select the Doable Solution