We’ve all heard about or experienced the blame game. The customer is upset because a product doesn’t meet expectations. Once notified, the manufacturer apologizes, makes restoration, but blames a supplier for poor workmanship. Soon the blame game between manufacturer and supplier restricts the flow of meaningful information.
This situation can be handled more effectively through problem resolution. Root-cause analysis (RCA) is a powerful technique to help all interested parties truly understand a problem and pinpoint effective solutions without participating in the finger-pointing that tends to interfere with progress.