Root Cause Analysis Framework
Delivery delays and escalations were being treated at the surface level — fixed once, then recurring. I designed a structured RCA framework that broke every issue into its immediate cause, underlying cause, and category, ensuring problems were actually solved rather than temporarily resolved.
Issues were being resolved in the moment but recurring weeks later. The same types of delays, the same vendor failures, the same internal communication gaps — addressed as one-off incidents rather than systemic problems. The team was fixing symptoms, not causes.
Every issue entered a structured analysis: What happened? (surface) → Why did it happen? (underlying) → Why did that condition exist? (root). Each root cause was then categorised: Vendor (supplier failure), Internal (process or resource), Process (systemic design gap). This categorisation drove different corrective actions — a vendor issue required a different response than a process issue.
Excel RCA logs · Reporting decks · Structured meeting templates · Escalation tracking system
Issue → Immediate Cause → Underlying Cause → Root Category → Corrective Action → Monitoring
Reduced repeat issues significantly across tracked programs. Improved the quality of escalation communications — stakeholders received structured root cause analysis rather than reactive updates. Built trust with leadership through demonstrated systematic thinking.
Fixing symptoms creates cycles; fixing causes breaks them. Most operational teams have the capability to do RCA — what they lack is the discipline to pause execution long enough to do it properly.