Root Cause Analysis
Root Cause Analysis is an ideation warm-up exercise for reflection and learning: it helps participants reflect on experience and turn observations into learning.
How to run it
- In-person: Arrange workstations or a shared space where everyone can contribute to the diagram.
- Virtual: Set up a shared digital board for collaboration.
- Explain that the goal is to identify the primary causes of a problem or risk using a collaborative fishbone diagram.
- Present the central problem or risk and ensure everyone understands it.
- Draw a horizontal line to represent the main problem or risk.
- Divide participants into small groups and assign each group a category.
Run this exercise live
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What participants need now
Materials:
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Prompts to use +
In-person: Arrange workstations or a shared space where everyone can contribute to the diagram.
Virtual: Set up a shared digital board for collaboration.
Explain that the goal is to identify the primary causes of a problem or risk using a collaborative fishbone diagram.
Present the central problem or risk and ensure everyone understands it.
Draw a horizontal line to represent the main problem or risk.
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Root Cause Analysis. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: In-person: Arrange workstations or a shared space where everyone can contribute to the diagram.; Virtual: Set up a shared digital board for collaboration.; Explain that the goal is to identify the primary causes of a problem or risk using a collaborative fishbone diagram.; Present the central problem or risk and ensure everyone understands it.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Participatory Methods; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (2 sources observed, including Participatory Methods, Workshopr.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.