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70 Types of Root Cause

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Root cause is the initial, fundamental or underlying cause of an incident, problem or outcome. This addresses the tendency for failures to have both obvious causes and deeper causes that require analysis to uncover. It is common for problem solving and root cause analysis to determine both a direct cause and a root cause for each problem. These can be one-and-the-same but often analysis determines a unique root cause. The following are common types of root cause.
Insufficient training
Insufficient maintenance
Incorrect maintenance procedures
Poor communication
Insufficient tools
Inadequate supervision
Human error
Latent human error
Equipment failure
Design flaws
Data quality issues
System failure
Integration failure
Misinterpretation of data
Procedural errors
Lack of procedures
Lack of process
Process flaws
Software defects
Inadequate documentation
Environmental factors
Unclear roles
Lack of authority
Lack of accountability
Poor user interfaces
Lack of planning
Workflow flaws
Inaccurate measurements
Incorrect configuration
Cultural factors
Inadequate feedback mechanisms
Incorrect analysis
Lack of precision and accuracy
Lack of testing
Test scripts flawed or insufficient
Change control failures
Supply failures
Infrastructure failures
Disasters and other major disruptions
Inadequate inspection
Inadequate logging
Insufficient monitoring
Lack of notifications
Lack of ownership
Insufficient capacity
Insufficient durability
Management failure
Quality assurance failure
Insufficient quality control
Improper installation
Improper calibration
Process was not followed
Procedures were not followed
Issues were not escalated
Inadequate troubleshooting
Equipment unfit for purpose
Equipment operated beyond service life
Software operated beyond end-of-support
Failure to recognize warning signs
Failure to investigate notifications
Wrong parts or components used
Wear and tear
Insufficient error handling
Poor architectural design
Ineffective version control
Flawed deployment practices
Over-automation – human checks required
Lack of automation
Unmanaged risk
Insufficient risk controls

What Qualifies as a Root Cause?

A root cause is the fundamental or underlying reason that something happened. Determining a root cause can be a complex undertaking that can be easily influenced by unjustified assumptions or the motivations of those investigating root cause. A root cause is the most fundamental explanation that has no deeper cause behind it. As such, root cause analysis requires challenging each proposed root cause to see if there is a deeper cause. This can benefit from a technique known as 5-whys whereby you ask the question "why?" five times in succession.

5-Whys

Ask the question "why?" five times in succession to determine a root cause. For example, if your lunch burns you could perform a root cause analysis as follows:

Incident: Lunch burned

Why? The oven was too hot.

Why? Trying to save time by cooking on high temperature. This is a high risk approach to preparing lunch that backfired.

Why? Only have 20 minutes for lunch.

Why? Under pressure to complete project that is behind schedule.

Why? The project requirements were poorly defined and there were many clarifications required over the course of the project that delayed things.

Actionable Causes

Any two people or groups that perform 5-whys are likely to come up with different root causes at level five. One particular issue here is that you can end up blaming society or some deep institutional causes for all problems. This isn't helpful as it is probably not within your power to address these causes. As such, it is helpful to select a root cause that is actionable.
Incident: Lunch burned

Why? The oven was too hot.

Why? Took a risk by cooking on high temperature but did not mitigate that risk by closely watching the food.

Why? Stressed out by project, mind not focused on lunch.

Why? Project is behind schedule.

Why? Did not push client for well-defined requirements early enough in the project lifecycle.
The example above focuses on things that the person making lunch could have done to avoid the burnt lunch at different levels of their life. This produces the easily actionable cause that they didn't watch the food and the deeper cause that they didn't manage their project requirements very well.

Processes Not People

It is common for organizations to cite human error as a root cause for incidents. This should only be done where every effort was taken by the organization to prevent this human error. In other words, it is important not to confuse human error and latent human error such as insufficient processes that would reasonably be expected to catch a likely error. For example, if a mechanic leaves a tool in a jet engine and this causes that engine to malfunction while still on the runway, this is a human error. However, the root cause is a process issue because maintenance processes can be reasonable expected to catch this type of error by accounting for tools at the end of a maintenance.

Importance of Root Cause

Fixing the root cause of a problem is typically the most durable and effective way to fix it. In other words, if you address secondary causes, the problem is likely to reoccur. For example, if you blame a mechanic for a serious maintenance error and fire the mechanic, there may be deeper problems with your training, tools, processes or procedures that were the actual root cause of the error. In this case, the next mechanic you hire may be likely to make the same mistake.

Summary

Root cause is the most fundamental reason that something occurred. It could alternatively be defined as the most fundamental reason within your influence or control that something occurred. The latter definition is pragmatic as root causes beyond your control can't be easily addressed. The purpose of root cause analysis is typically to fix the deep cause of issues as opposed to simply addressing symptoms.
Next: Examples of Root Cause
More root causes:
Bugs & Defects
Cascading Failure
Data Corruption
Data Quality
Design Failure
Human Error
Human Error
Human Error
Knowledge Loss
Quality Control
Resistance To Change
Types Of Error
Unintended Consequences
Unmanaged Risk
More ...
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