Time Lines & Tootsie Rolls

You ask yourself, "Tootsie Rolls?" A fair question indeed. Tootsie Rolls have nothing to do with time lines. However, time lines are not exciting and I needed to grab your attention as a result. Because time lines are not exciting many investigators either ignore or avoid them. The fact of the matter is that a time line is critical to the successful investigation of any loss event. Here is why:

1. A time line can help you identify all the activities that lead to the loss event. As you build the time line, you find gaps that you fill and you continue to build.
   
2. A time line can help you identify all the activities that transpired after the loss event. As you continue to build the time line, you find issues that obscured the loss event after it happened. These issues are important, as they also may represent gaps that need to be addressed.
3. Once your time line is constructed, you have an outline for your investigation.
4. A time line is extremely useful if your investigation requires approval, as it helps draw an organized picture of what activities or circumstances transpired around the loss event. (The key to approval is making it easy for the approver(s) to understand what happened.)
   

Nearly all investigations can be structured on a time line. Think for a moment of the press reporting an aircraft investigation. They are delivering news information about the aircraft accident, usually from a time line that the investigators have provided. This helps the press understand what happened. It also makes it easy for the press to convey to the public what happened. If your investigation has a time line outlined around the loss event, your written analysis will be smoother and make more sense.

So think about it; consider the value of a time line. If you've built them in your investigations in the past, continue building them. If not, start using them and see if they don't help your investigations immensely.

If you're not buying into the whole time line idea, it's time for you to get up and go get a Tootsie Roll!

Investigators as Leaders

When pursuing a large investigation, there are two skill sets required to see it through successfully to Root Cause. First are Leadership Skills and Technical Skills follow. This entry is about Leadership Skills. Do not confuse leadership with management. A person with good leadership skills can inspire and motivate individuals to perform. Leadership is often informal and subtle.

On the other hand, management is overt and uses hierarchical leverage, including the carrot and stick philosophy. Some managers, although they have license to use hierarchical leverage, use leadership skills to get things done through others. Be mindful though, that to be a good leader does not require one to be a manager. There are a great many powerful people in business and politics who are strong leaders, but not formal leaders.

A good leader will recognize the deficiencies they have and close that gap by leveraging the skills of another to complete the investigation. In such cases, the person leading an investigation will pull together an investigative team, bringing together different skill sets and perspectives to enable a robust investigation.

It is important to recognize that leadership skills are not easily acquired and that leadership is not easily won. It takes continual practice, willingness to accept feedback and learn from ones mistakes, and the tenacious building of trust.

As you work through investigations, think about your leadership skills. Are you burning bridges or building relationships? Leaders build relationships. Successful investigations cannot be completed in a corporate environment without good leaders who build good relationships. In fact, many organizations have the philosophy that they will hire people with leadership skills, because such skills are hard to develop; technical skills they can easily buy.

How have your investigations been going? Perhaps it's time to investigate your leadership skills!

This is an exciting new world I've been introduced to!

I get links to different blogs from time to time. They come from family and colleagues. Some are random and uninvited. However, I am amazed at the power of the blog as a communication tool. Many have embraced the value this vehicle for communication has in expressing and promoting themselves and their ideas and/or businesses.

The purpose of my blog is two fold: First to solicit and share ideas about Root Cause Analysis (RCA) in the manufacturing/operations arena. Second, to capture ideas and notes for my current book project on the subject, to be entitled: Finding Fault.

Hopefully, you will find this as helpful to yourself, as it is to me. So sit tight, fasten your seat belt and hang on for the ride!