"Pulling weeds - Root Cause"

In Teaching Smart People How to Learn, author Chris Agyris states, “… success increasingly depends on learning, but most people don’t know how to learn. What’s more, those members of the organization whom many assume to be the best at learning – professionals who occupy key leadership positions – are, in fact, not very good at it.”

What I find fascinating is Agyris’ belief that “most people too narrowly define learning as problem solving”. As such, problem solving focuses on correcting errors that more often of not are external. Thus, Agyris concludes that learning requires an inward, reflection of behavior – individually and collectively. This reflection cannot be superficial or cursory. Rather, it must be a critical examination of behavior – attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Further still, Agyris argues that behaviors often inadvertently contribute to an organization’s problems. “In particular, ‘organizations’ must learn how the very way they go about defining and solving problems can be a source of problems in its own right.”

Yes, you read that right – the way we go about defining and solving problems are often the problem. The solutions we identify are in many respects doomed from the onset given we haven’t deeply sought to understand, examine the root causes of the problem we seek to solve.

One way to ensure success is getting to the root cause.

Root cause analysis sounds sophisticated, complex, and time consuming. It really isn’t. In fact, the only aspect of root cause analysis that is challenging is thinking differently about a problem, challenge, issue, etc. Therein lies the challenge – thinking differently.

I recall a gardening lesson from my mother about pulling weeds – speaking about root cause. My brother and I were weeding the garden with specific instructions to pull the roots not just the visible part of the weed (above ground). We thought we could expedite the work by pulling the visible and covering whatever we didn’t get with soil (mom will never know). Well, imagine our surprise days later when the weeds reappeared.

Guess what? We were back out there weeding again.

What’s so important about roots? We know from our botany days that plants (weeds too) need sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow. Roots have three functions they: 1) absorb water, 2) anchor the plant body to the ground and 3) store food and nutrients.

Anyone that has pulled weeds knows that the second function of roots is often the most challenging – anchoring the plant or weed to the soil. Yet, the strength of the root does not determine what we see above ground – we may pull easily the stem or leaves but have a difficult time getting the root.

So it is with the root cause of problems – they’re generally deeply anchored. Our problem is that we embrace the axiom of “out of sight means out of mind”. Gardeners know this couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, the out of sight out of mind thinking will often lead to deeper more profound problems.

Our work is similar – the work of continuous improvement. We cannot accept or attempt to merely pull or remove what is visible. Rather, we must go after the roots. To do so, of course, requires discipline and humility. The discipline is self-evident. We must engage in continuous reflection – easier said than done. We don’t like to ask critical, penetrating questions about our behaviors or their underpinning beliefs or values.

The obstacle to asking, discussing, and addressing these behaviors is the lack of humility. Our profession is oft impaired by sentimentality. We are quick to defend, explain, or excuse the results or evidence of our work (student learning) as something outside our control except when student learning and achievement exceeds expectation. We tend to take credit for outstanding student results but quickly run away from responsibility for poor student learning results (a discussion for a different day).

My brother and I were humbled in our efforts to cover up incomplete work. From this humility came a valuable lesson that serves us well today. We cannot prepare the garden properly without removing the roots of the weeds that so desperately want to dominate. Now, whenever in the garden I exercise the discipline (and time) to pull the roots.

Our organization must commit to learning – learning to ask different questions, learning to think differently, and learning to identify the root cause of a problem, issue, concern, or a result that did not meet or exceed expectations.