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> One root cause implies one problem with one answer. I don't know that root cause was ever ONE thing. The root cause(s) can be many roots within the root cau
by drawkbox 9y ago
> One root cause implies one problem with one answer.
I don't know that root cause was ever ONE thing. The root cause(s) can be many roots within the root cause.
A tree has a trunk, it goes down to the root, the roots are multiple on some instances.
The 5 Whys, 5-Ms, 8-Ps and 4-Ss help determine root cause(s). The idea of root cause is to find all the real reasons something isn't going as planned. Many times it is one thing but sometimes it isn't, there is also process that need retrospectives if the root causes are not fully solved or continue to happen, in that case the true root cause is still out there. When you only find part of the root cause you haven't found the root cause fully.
Root cause is not a fallacy, if it isn't just one thing you just haven't found the root cause(s) fully yet just a symptom and you need to go deeper or the roots have grown/changed.
In logic, root cause is usually easier to find because it is more objective, in policy there is a constant of misunderstanding that is rarely factored in enough or is caused by unknowns that can be ever-changing.
Sometimes, especially in policy, the cause can never be solved and it should be accepted as a known part of the solution or accepted as a constant problem. Example: to stop drug addition we will make all drugs illegal, or to stop alcohol addiction we will prohibit alcohol, yet people will continue to do them because of the human condition. These are clear examples of root causes that have deeper root causes, some causes don't need solving or can't be solved due to misunderstanding, they need objective acceptance of them being part of the system always and solutions within that reality. Another example is hacking or fraud, those expectations have to be built into the system, they aren't going away because they are evolving around the root cause solutions put in place into a cat/mouse game ad infinitum.