Tools

Before diagnosing anything, build a complete picture of the situation. Skipping this step means you risk running a root-cause analysis on the wrong symptom entirely. Run through all six questions below before moving to root-cause analysis. WHO — Who is affected? Which users or teams are experiencing the problem? Is it everyone, or specific groups only? Who reported it first and when? Who owns the system — technically and operationally? Who are the downstream recipients of the wrong outputs? WHAT — What exactly is happening? ...

' The first answer is almost never the real cause. Most organizations stop at Why 2 or Why 3 and fix the symptom instead of the source. Run this drill separately for each distinct symptom you identified during problem scoping. Your Root Cause Drill Symptom: _________________________________ Why Question Answer Why 1 Why is this happening? Why 2 Why is that happening? Why 3 Why is that happening? Why 4 Why is that happening? Why 5 Why is that happening? True root cause: _________________________________ ...

The choice between build, buy, and borrow rarely comes down to technical capability. It comes down to which risk you’re willing to own: loss of control, delay in value, or dependency on an external provider. Score your initiative against the four factors below, then check which path your scores point toward. Rate Your Initiative (1–5 each) 1. Security & Data Sensitivity How sensitive is the data or capability involved? 1 = Low sensitivity, comfortable with external providers · 5 = Extremely sensitive, must stay fully in-house ...