Once you know what your problems are and how to treat them, you can take measures to eliminate — or at least minimize — the problems. Permanent resolution takes more than short-term fixes and answers. Eliminating the problem takes getting to the root cause.
• What is the root cause of problems?
A root cause is never simple or one-dimensional. It usually isn’t as obvious as you’d like it to be, either. It takes trial, error and experience to analyze data and recognize the root cause diminishing your customer’s experience. If you eliminate the problem, you will eliminate the wasted time and regain management’s reputation for handling problems well.
Real-World Anecdote
Charlie is your little troublemaking son who has been starting fights at school. You have punished him and talked to him, but his behavior doesn’t seem to be improving. It’s time to take another tact. It’s time to get to the root cause. You consider that Charlie hasn’t been feeling well and that could be affecting his behavior, but that’s not it. He hasn’t been sleeping as well as usual, so perhaps that’s it. Then you consider a bigger change in Charlie’s life: the fact that he changed schools three months ago. That could be the root cause affecting his health and sleeping patterns, too. Getting to the heart of the problem empowers you to solve it for good.
