Why Our Process Improvement Fixes Fail podcast

Why Do Our Process Improvement Fixes Fail?

There is a psychological pattern that causes many of our process improvement fixes to fail. Over the past forty-plus years, I have seen tens of thousands of corrective and preventive actions.

After a while, a pattern began to emerge. I saw the same pattern with attempts to address ‘unsafe act’ and ‘unsafe condition’ audit findings.

It wasn’t just the ‘weak fix’ pattern many people see in their organizations. You know what I mean by weak fixes.

Things such as retraining, procedure expanding, and punishment-focused changes. Instead, it was a pattern of a less visible nature.

The wrong root causes result in process improvement failures

In a nutshell, here is what I saw:

Our fixes tend to be weak, and in turn fail, when we blame people and equipment for our problems.

The root causes we select set the stage for weak versus strong corrective actions. Those root causes are a result of the root cause questions we ask, how we collect and analyze evidence, and the design of the root cause analysis process itself.

As Henry Ford said, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got.”

How often do your fixes fail? Is it possible that a root cause analysis process shift, along with a psychological shift, could lead you towards a more error free workplace?

Learn More About the TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Process

If you want to learn more about the TapRooT® root causes analysis process, you can always visit the TapRooT® website. Some favorite quick access links of mine include:

3-day VIRTUAL TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Workshop
After almost 20 years, I continue to teach 10-15 virtual 3-day courses a year for System Improvements as a contract instructor.

If you would like me to teach this course in your company, one option is to contact me directly. Then, I will help you get a quote from System Improvements.

Also, you can request to have me as your instructor when you book a virtual course through the System Improvements website.