Problem Management

13 INVESTIGATION AND DIAGNOSIS

Table 13.1 Investigation and diagnosis states and metrics

This step of the process aims to find the cause of the problem. It is commonly referred to as root cause analysis or RCA. Almost every source I have reviewed states that RCA is a step-by-step, structured method that leads to the discovery of a fault’s first or ‘root’ cause.

I have been talking about a structured approach throughout this book, particularly in Chapter 5, and I will not revisit this material. Instead, I will talk quickly about the psychology behind the need for structure and then summarise the main structured approaches I have encountered.