source: https://coda.io/@ross/root-cause-reasoning

Video communication that just works is one of the hardest problems to solve. So why is Zoom successful? Because at Zoom, we have a decision-making ritual that’s part of our culture — specifically, Root Cause Reasoning (RCR).

2022-08 rcr - Frame 9.jpg

At Zoom, we care deeply about working on the right problems, and being rigorous in our understanding and analysis of the problem, before we work on the solution.

Causal clarity is one of the reasons why we have been so successful at tackling the immensely challenging problem of video communication on a global scale. Every decision or strategic proposal at Zoom presents a RCR analysis up front and begins discussions with a shared understanding of the Problem, Root Cause, and Solution.

Digging deep for the Root Cause.

Throughout my career as a product manager and entrepreneur, I was conditioned to frame proposals with problems, solutions, and benefits. I thought I was pretty darn good at problem discovery, definition, and prioritization. But something was missing.

When I joined Zoom, I quickly found our Chief Product Officer, Oded Gal, pausing the conversation in a feature review on the first slide to dive deep into problem, Root Cause, and solution with three key questions:

• Problem — what is the problem that needs to be solved, and why?
• Root Cause — what is the fundamental reason there is a problem?
• Solution — what are potential solutions to the problem?

Problem, Root Cause, and Solution are always the first slide. Sometimes a meeting won’t proceed until the definition is agreed upon. The Solution may need further explanation and discussion, but not until there’s a shared understanding of the Problem and Root Cause. And I’ve found a rigorous discussion of the RCR yields better teamwork.

Three optional questions can accompany this slide:

• Additional Context — what additional details are important to understand in this situation?
• Owner — who is the directly responsible individual for implementing the solution?
• Next steps — what needs to happen next to implement the solution?

At first, the practice of defining the Root Cause was challenging for me. But, by asking the right questions you can unearth the Root Cause—the fundamental reason why a problem exists. And if you are defining Problems without a Root Cause, it’s likely that the problem isn’t well defined, you’re solving the wrong problem, and creating subpar solutions. If you find your product team shipping solutions that don’t create the outcome of customer happiness, the root cause can literally be the lack of Root Cause Reasoning.

We’ve used this process thousands of times to identify the Root Cause before building a solution. For a deeper dive on Zoom’s RCR ritual, listen to this podcast with our CTO Brendan Ittelson.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/7I8rWP7clAgbHwLe18YBoc?utm_source=generator