Root causes analysis
Wikipedia defines Root causes analysis as:
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a class of problem solving methods aimed at identifying the root causes of problems or events. The practice of RCA is predicated on the belief that problems are best solved by attempting to correct or eliminate root causes, as opposed to merely addressing the immediately obvious symptoms.
This is another topic we discussed in the new test leads class I was taking. It was an important topic because too often in software we address the immediate symptom and leave the root problem alone. Of course this issue is not limited to software alone. We have these same problems when I we analyze problems in our lives. Root cause analysis sounds good theoretically, but how are we supposed to do it pratically? One technique that is commonly used is called 5 Whys. The idea behind this is that when examining a problem, you'll come up with a cause. Don't stop there and ask yourself why again and again. Even though it's called *5* whys, it's not important that you do it exactly 5 times, but it's important that you dig deeper into the causes to find the root cause.
This is a good way to think of problems both at work and outside of work. Often, we're addressing the symptoms and not the problems.
