Root Cause Analysis: Wednesday the cat and a dead mouse

It’s a scene that’s all too familiar to cat owners, a live mouse running around the house! But what has this got to do with understanding process improvement? Well get ready for a wild ride as I tell you the tale of our recent mouse-catching adventure.

It all started when my daughter and I heard a strange noise coming from our study. We were stumped, but after some investigation, we discovered mouse droppings! The chase was on, and we knew we had to come up with a plan. Of course, I’m a process expert, I’ve got this.

I came up with a genius idea: let’s lure the mouse out into the open by building a mouse trap, just like in the game! We got to work and created the ultimate mouse-catching machine. We set the trap and waited anxiously.

The mouse came out and it felt like the victory was ours, however, the expert in me had to eat humble pie as the mouse managed to jump over the trap and ran away into the depths of the house.

This started me thinking away about process improvement and I concluded that I needed to improve the process by building a higher trap. An error on my part as I did not stop to think about the root cause of the problem! An error we see so many businesses make.

So, lets retrospectively stop and consider root cause analysis:

Firstly, hunting and killing small animals is an instinctive behaviour for cats. They have an innate desire to hunt and kill prey, which is a behaviour that has been shaped by their evolutionary history. Cats are natural predators, and hunting is essential for their survival. Even though domestic cats don’t need to hunt to survive, this behaviour is still present in their genetic makeup.

However, while hunting is an instinctive behaviour for cats, leaving a dead mouse lying around is not. This behaviour could be due to a few different root causes.

1. One potential cause is that Wednesday (our cat) simply wasn’t hungry. Cats hunt for more than just food; they also hunt for entertainment and exercise. That’s Wednesday all over. If Wednesday caught the mouse but wasn’t hungry, maybe she lost interest and left the mouse behind.
2. Another possible cause is that Wednesday was trying to show off her hunting skills. Domestic cats often see their owners as their “pack,” and leaving a dead mouse as a gift could be a way for the cat to show its loyalty and skill to its owner.

Regardless of the specific cause, finding a dead mouse in your house can be unpleasant and that’s what happened the following morning!

After analysing the root cause, we need to consider countermeasure, things we can trail to change the process.

Here’s what we have done so far:

1. Made sure that Wednesday is well-fed and doesn’t need to hunt for food.
2. Provide Wednesday with plenty of toys and playtime to fulfill her hunting instincts.
3. Considered getting more bells for her collar to make it easier for prey to detect her approach.

In conclusion, jumping to solution mode when a process fails is actually a failure in process improvement. You need to analyse the root cause and develop countermeasures and then check and adjust the effect on your process. Im in the check and adjust stage right now and this blog topic may continue!