It is so easy to get confused when problem solving and end up addressing symptoms and not the root cause.

An example of this would the manager who realises that the atmosphere in his team’s work area is tense so decides to move people around – the end result? Most people are fed up because they enjoyed working alongside/ opposite whoever they were with before and communication and work flow are disrupted. Whilst (s)he may have acted with the best of intentions, the manager dealt with the problem at symptom level; the root cause in this case was a personality clash between two people in the team, which has not been addressed by the ‘solution’.

A model that I like, and one that reminds us of the importance of investigating both the symptoms and the root cause, is the SCORE model, which has its roots in Behavioural psychology. It can be used when coaching to help individuals to assess the full magnitude of a decision with which they are faced – it can equally well be used by managers in teh workplace, for the same reason.

S ymptoms – what are they? What is happening/not happening?
C ause – what is/are the root cause(s)?
O utcomes – what do you want to achieve? How that differ from where you are now? Are you prepared to pay the ‘price’, if their is one? Does the outome repay the effort required?
R esources needed? Money, Materials, Equipment, People, Time, Information etc
E ffects – what are the likely consequences of your actions?

All these need to be thought through, before you can consider your options and make your choice.

The model helps with the planning stage of making a decision and reminds us of the need to identify the root cause as well as the symptoms.

Have a great weekend and whatever you have planned… Go for it!

Nic Oliver