Descend To The Lowest Level You Can!

How often have you overheard a conversation and heard the phrase, "I don't think they can get much lower than that." Usually, this is about someone in particular and their perceived behaviors. The statement generally has a negative connotation.

How about the sometimes wildly entertaining Caribbean dance, the Limbo? The object is for participants to dance under a bar or pole, that is lowered through successive turns of the participants. When a participant falls, they are eliminated from the dance, until the dancer who can go the lowest remains. The thought is, how low can you go?

When doing an investigation, you want to get to the lowest level you can. You want to peel away the layers of circumstances that will get you to the root cause. This is often done using "Cause of the Cause" or "5 Why Analysis". Fault Tree Analysis is a disciplined approach to these processes. Essentially, you want to go as low as you can go. You want to descend the lowest level possible.

Each hypothetical cause has one or more hypothetical causes subordinate to it. Eventually, you will get to a point where you have exhausted all reasonable possibilities. Typically, you will find that there are usually no more than five levels of "Why" or hypothetical causes. Evaluation of these hypothetical causes then lends you some measure of confidence as to whether they were truly contributory to the Loss Event. The key, however, is to go to the bottom, get to the root of the Fault Tree, or the Root Cause.

When pursuing your investigation, it is important to remember...

Descend to the lowest level you can!

To Be or Not To Be...

Hypotheses are interesting things. They are, or they are not. There is no middle ground. Now on the other hand, you may have some measure of confidence (which we will discuss in a later post) as to whether the hypothesis is, or is not. When pursuing an investigation, you are inundated with hypotheses.

What are hypotheses, relative to an investigation? Well, once you know what the Loss Event is, you have to hypothesize different scenarios that might have caused the loss event. Some of those hypotheses will be the result of data that you collect immediately after the event and when you build your time line. Others will be what if's based on SME knowledge of the process surrounding the Loss Event. Others still, will be subordinate to the first level hypotheses. In other words, cause of the cause.

Ultimately, what you wind up with is a Fault Tree of hypotheses. You will begin collecting data that will enable you to prove your hypotheses with some measure of confidence. As you work through all the hypotheses in your fault tree, you will eventually begin to discern either Root Cause, or one or more interactions leading to the Loss Event. In the end, a Fault Tree is a grouping of hypotheses either related and/or subordinate to one another, and which lead to the Loss Event.

With respect to the truth of any hypothesis found on a Fault Tree:

To be or not to be...

That is the question!

Do It, Do It Right, Do It Right Now!

Last week I had a posting called, "Just Do It!" after the Nike slogan, used so often in their advertising. Before, "Just Do It!" was even considered by Nike, I was serving a mission for my church in the late 70's. One of our church leaders had a placard on his desk which said, "Do it, Do it right, Do it right now!" Everyone knew that this was his credo and we made it ours. It has since stuck with me.

So what does the mantra, "Do it, Do it right, Do it right now!" have to do with investigations? The following are my thoughts on the matter:

1. Do It: This simply means "Take Action." If no action is taken, nothing gets done. A Loss Event has occurred. You are aware of it, or previously unaware of the Loss Event, it has been assigned to you for investigation. Take Action. Begin the investigation. Understand the events surrounding the Loss Event and use that understanding to determine Root Cause. The point is, that unless you "Do It," nothing will ever be resolved. No Root Cause will be found.
   
2. Do It Right: When taking action, during the course of your investigation, be sure you are taking the right action. Question everything. Require the appropriate data to support or disclaim all your hypotheses. Talk to the SME's and SMI's, both. Don't be afraid to challenge. Don't be afraid to be challenged. Gather all the data and information you can. Organize it, codify it and prepare it for review and/or approval. Most of all, be sure your Corrective Actions are appropriate and sound and prevent future Loss Events of like kind.
3. Do It Right Now: There is a sense of urgency in business. Any business. The business of work, the business of community, the business of family, all require some sense of urgency to resolve issues and resolve them quickly. Understanding this as investigators, we should take action and we should take the right action. However, waiting does not help at all, we need to take action now! The sooner we take action, the sooner resolution will take place, the sooner we improve whatever process we are investigating, and the sooner we reap the benefits of such.

Life is full of challenges and choices. These are compressed even further in the traditional business environment. Investigators are leveraged to understand why some of those challenges occur and how to prevent their recurrence in the future.

When you are faced with the challenges and choices of life, in your work or otherwise, as an investigator, just remember...

Do it, Do it Right, Do it right now!