Cause and Effect Principle

Focus on the Cause-and-Effect Principle

The basis of a root cause analysis is the strict adherence to the cause-and-effect principle. All incidents consist of a specific set of cause-and-effect relationships that occurred in a particular sequence. This doesn’t mean there is only one cause to an incident; it means there is only one set of causes. The facilitator, therefore, should make the investigation an objective exercise based on what actually happened. Many facilitators start a root cause analysis by asking “What could have possibly caused this?” which encourages people to speculate. The question should be “What was this caused by?” with a focus on cause-and-effect relationships supported with evidence. When the causes are unknown the facilitator can then ask for possible causes, but a specific plan for evidence needs to be developed.