Root Cause Analysis - Revision history

Squirrel: /* Questions and Comments */

2011-11-21T00:48:42Z

Questions and Comments

Squirrel: /* No blame */

2011-11-21T00:45:04Z

No blame

Squirrel: /* Write alot */

2011-11-21T00:44:16Z

Write alot

Squirrel: /* RCA for Funny Video */

2011-11-21T00:43:48Z

RCA for Funny Video

Squirrel: /* Actions */

2011-11-21T00:42:40Z

Actions

Squirrel at 00:40, 21 November 2011

2011-11-21T00:40:57Z

Squirrel at 00:37, 21 November 2011

2011-11-21T00:37:38Z

Squirrel at 00:29, 21 November 2011

2011-11-21T00:29:38Z

Squirrel at 00:25, 21 November 2011

2011-11-21T00:25:07Z

PaulJulius at 11:03, 12 November 2011

2011-11-12T11:03:17Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:48, 21 November 2011
Line 46:		Line 46:

	''Bickering can be a problem.'' Having a senior person present helps defuse these types of arguments.		''Bickering can be a problem.'' Having a senior person present helps defuse these types of arguments.
		+
		+	Good article on what to avoid in an RCA (above process is designed to avoid most of these errors): [http://www.reinertsenassociates.com/#tipofmonth Cult of the Root Cause] by Don Reintertsen.

	==RCA for Funny Video==		==RCA for Funny Video==

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 ===No blame===
-Ops folks may tend toward blame, depending on your company culture. Need to set it up ahead of time to avoid blame - "inoculate" people against blame with a discussion at the beginning of the session. A related anti-pattern: as long as it isn't MY discipline, then I have gotten what I want out of this session and I don't have to do anything else.
+Some participants may tend toward blame, depending on your company culture. Need to set it up ahead of time to avoid blame - "inoculate" people against blame with a discussion at the beginning of the session. A related anti-pattern: as long as it isn't MY discipline, then I have gotten what I want out of this session and I don't have to do anything else.
 ===Poll to identify problems===

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 Go around entire room and ask "Please list all the problems event X caused". OK if others have said your items - this naturally happens. The poll ensures everyone gets a say and no one is left out. Other methods include private ballots on post-its or email solicitation. Try to avoid proxies. Get the right people in the room (see above).
-===Write alot===
+===Write a lot===
 When not sure what to do, write! Want to fill the board, and capture all the ideas. OK to have many whys for one item - rare that there is a single chain of whys.

@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 ==RCA for Funny Video==
-Building snowmen
+* Building snowmen
-Squirrel divided up the group into two: Wallace & Gromit
+* Squirrel divided up the group into two: Wallace & Gromit
 ===Bad things that happened===
-Snowman destroyed - lost good snowman
+* Snowman destroyed - lost good snowman
-Wallace covered in snowman
+* Wallace covered in snowman
-Got a cold
+* Got a cold
-Wasted Gromit time and unhappy
+* Wasted Gromit time and unhappy
 ===Lost good snowman===
-in wrong place (wallace's garden)
+* in wrong place (wallace's garden)
-Wallace inconsiderate?
+* Wallace inconsiderate?
-Couldn't see - didn't look - Hard to look - Van too big - Wanted impressive snowman -
+* Couldn't see - didn't look - Hard to look - Van too big - Wanted impressive snowman -
 to 60 second pause is "good" (it has to hurt a little)
-Worked down to Competition and Dog Can't Talk at end of 7 why's
+Worked down to Competition and Dog Can't Talk at end of 7 whys
 ===Actions===

@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 ===Actions===
-Video, Mirrors, Reverse warning
+* Video, Mirrors, Reverse warning
-Lightning talk on snowman
+* Lightning talk on snowman
-Board Agenda: Profit Sharing
+* Board Agenda: Profit Sharing
-Daily meetings (standups), Sign language classes for gromit
+* Daily meetings (standups), Sign language classes for gromit
-(volunteers for each action)
+(take volunteers for each action)

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 Squirrel has slides on how to go about doing a root cause analysis (PJ reminder: get the slides from Squirrel to attach to the wiki) ('''Squirrel''': I can't figure out how to attach the slides. Help! In the meantime, you can watch a [http://skillsmatter.com/podcast/agile-testing/talk-by-squirrel video that contains the slides].)
 ===Target a specific event===
@@ Line 33: / Line 36: @@
 Someone (typically the one running the RCA) has to chase this to ensure it happens. Keeping to one week helps ensure proportionality and completion.
-How does this compare to retrospectives?
+==Questions and Comments==
 Retros are related to teams, the pain is more direct
-Other techniques for NOT losing focus?
+''Other techniques for NOT losing focus?''
-Keep it short term
+Keep it short term. The next root cause analysis might highlight the "next" step, but for now, "all we have to do now is take this first step"
-Vote every day on actions from retrospectives to determine whether or not they are being actioned
+''Vote every day'' on actions from retrospectives to determine whether or not they are being actioned. Smiley faces or sad faces depending on votes
-Bickering can be a problem. Having a senior person present helps defuse these types of arguments.
+''Bickering can be a problem.'' Having a senior person present helps defuse these types of arguments.
-====Wallace & Gromit Video====
+==RCA for Funny Video==
 Building snowmen
 Squirrel divided up the group into two: Wallace & Gromit

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ===No blame===
-Ops folks tend toward blame
+Ops folks may tend toward blame, depending on your company culture. Need to set it up ahead of time to avoid blame - "inoculate" people against blame with a discussion at the beginning of the session. A related anti-pattern: as long as it isn't MY discipline, then I have gotten what I want out of this session and I don't have to do anything else.
 ===Poll to identify problems===
-Go around entire room and ask "Hey PJ, please list all the problems"
+Go around entire room and ask "Please list all the problems event X caused". OK if others have said your items - this naturally happens. The poll ensures everyone gets a say and no one is left out. Other methods include private ballots on post-its or email solicitation. Try to avoid proxies. Get the right people in the room (see above).
 ===Write alot===
 ===Move down then across===
 ===If it doesn't hurt, then you aren't doing it right===
 ===Proportionate tasks===
-If you are re-writing your entire app because of a 3 minutes of down time, then you are not doing the right thing
+If you are re-writing your entire app because of 3 minutes of down time, then you are not doing the right thing. It's OK to do part of a task ("Write the outline of a training programme for new sysadmins on our Puppet setup and add to induction wiki page") - if the problem occurs again, you can do the next step ("Fill in the deployment section of the outline").
 ===All tasks done in a week===
-Every task agreed to:
+Identify tasks at many levels of the why chain (not just at the fifth why). Every task agreed to:
 ) Has to be do-able in one week
 ) Has to actually be done in one week
 How does this compare to retrospectives?
@@ Line 44: / Line 43: @@
 Smiley faces or sad faces depending on votes
-Bickering can be a problem. Having a senior person present helps diffuse these types of arguments.
+Bickering can be a problem. Having a senior person present helps defuse these types of arguments.
-===Wallace & Gromit Video===
+====Wallace & Gromit Video====
 Building snowmen
 Squirrel divided up the group into two: Wallace & Gromit

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 :00 on Saturday, Nov 12, 2011 morning in Space Invaders (the big room)
-Squirrel has slides on how to go about doing a root cause analysis (PJ reminder: get the slides from Squirrel to attach to the wiki) ('''Squirrel''': I can't figure out how to attach the slides. Help! In the meantime, you can watch a [http://skillsmatter.com/podcast/agile-testing/talk-by-squirrel video that contains the slides].
+Squirrel has slides on how to go about doing a root cause analysis (PJ reminder: get the slides from Squirrel to attach to the wiki) ('''Squirrel''': I can't figure out how to attach the slides. Help! In the meantime, you can watch a [http://skillsmatter.com/podcast/agile-testing/talk-by-squirrel video that contains the slides].)
 ===Target a specific event===
-could do a root cause analysis on a "big" event over time, like as part of a master's thesis
+If you want to complete the analysis in a short meeting (30-60 minutes) it's best to focus on a specific recent event, such as a production bug or outage. Good to understand what the level of pain is. One person said he had seen a root cause analysis on a "big" event or series of events completed over time (it took a month and was part of a master's thesis).
 ===Everyone affected attends===
-the "feature" team attends, what about senior managers? representatives from other areas of the business
+The "feature" team attends (typically developers) as well as senior managers and representatives from other areas of the business, e.g. client support or operations. Not always feasible to get "everyone" in the room. One technique is to give them results and tasks from an RCA they did not show up for. You can't assign actions to someone not in the room though, so you have to do something like "visit X daily for a week to ensure she does Y".
 ===No blame===

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:03, 12 November 2011
Line 55:		Line 55:
	Building snowmen		Building snowmen
	Squirrel divided up the group into two: Wallace & Gromit		Squirrel divided up the group into two: Wallace & Gromit
		+
		+	===Bad things that happened===
		+	Snowman destroyed - lost good snowman
		+	Wallace covered in snowman
		+	Got a cold
		+	Wasted Gromit time and unhappy
		+
		+	===Lost good snowman===
		+	in wrong place (wallace's garden)
		+	Wallace inconsiderate?
		+	Couldn't see - didn't look - Hard to look - Van too big - Wanted impressive snowman -
		+
		+	30 to 60 second pause is "good" (it has to hurt a little)
		+
		+	Worked down to Competition and Dog Can't Talk at end of 7 why's
		+
		+	===Actions===
		+	Video, Mirrors, Reverse warning
		+	Lightning talk on snowman
		+	Board Agenda: Profit Sharing
		+	Daily meetings (standups), Sign language classes for gromit
		+
		+	(volunteers for each action)