Proximate Vs Root Cause: Solve It Now, Solve It Forever

One of the first principles we learn as babies is cause and effect. Infants see that when they push an object, it moves, when they cry, they get attention, and when they trip and fall, they feel pain. As we grow, these cause-and-effect relationships become more complex. Many attribute seemingly unrelated causes to effects in their lives, such as winning championships due to catching busses on time. Accordingly, when something bad happens, we look for somewhere else to situate the blame.

This mental model is a more advanced version of finding causes and effects. It is the art of looking beyond what appears to be the cause to find the real cause. Proximate versus root cause thinking is invaluable for creative and innovative thinking and solving problems. It emphasizes that we look past the immediate explanation for something and dig deeper until we discover the root of the problem. Once we figure out the root cause, we can take steps to prevent future encounters with such failures.

When using the mental model, you have to stay mindful of predisposing factors that can influence events. Particularly: the location, nature, severity, time, and how easily external elements influence the likelihood of it occurring again. You can use it in conjunction with Occam’s or Hanlon’s razor, since it is also a form of simplification to unearth probable explanations. The big issue is that it can result in oversimplification, since there is rarely one root cause. To use it effectively, don’t let it mutate into self-blame or negative thought spirals, such as blaming yourself as the root cause of every problem encountered. Finding root causes should be done to prevent future problems, not to dwell on past issues.

Albeit establishing the root cause is no easy task. It’s wise to use a thinking tool like the five-whys or Socratic questioning to separate knowledge from ignorance. The five-whys technique is simple, so I advise starting there. Five is the general number of repetitions required, though you can ask why more or less, depending on your circumstances. Say the effect is a losing your job. Why? (1) Because I was not valuable enough to the company. Why? (2) Because a newer employee was getting more done. Why? (3) Because I allowed my career development to stagnate and struggled to keep up with the industry. Why? (4) Because I rarely got encouraged and was frequently critiqued by the higher-ups in the company. Why? (5) Because they are trying to foster a feedback-based culture but I do not respond well to critique. Solution: I have to learn to be responsive to feedback and not take constructive criticism as insult.

Defined, a proximate cause is the immediate event or condition that directly precipitates an outcome, the “nearest” explanation; a root cause is the underlying, fundamental reason the outcome occurred, typically deeper in the system. Addressing only proximate causes results in recurring problems. You take care of the surface-, not the foundational-level.

Real life implications of proximate versus root cause thinking:

• Medicine: a patient might develop an infection post-surgery; address the proximate immediately by treating the infection, and revise the sterilization policies and staff-level problems that result in rushed cleaning procedures to address the root;

• Business: a drop in sales might be attributed to a competitor’s aggressive marketing; address the proximate by launching a campaign to stymie their effects, whilst overhauling long-term retention and product development strategies to see whether your product offerings could be outdated;

• Relationships: a heated argument might erupt due to a missed anniversary; apologize for the immediate incident but invest into solving the root cause by improving your communication habits and setting matched expectations;

• Software: a website might crash due to high traffic; restart the server to fix the crash right now, but scale up server infrastructure to make sure it does not happen again;

• Education: a student might fail an exam because they did not study enough; help them prepare for the upcoming test while you try to help them build effective studying habits and strategies.

How you might use proximate versus root causes as a thinking tool: (1) ask “Why?” repeatedly, seeking to move beyond the proximate cause until you reach a probable root cause; (2) consider systemic factors, weighing in not only individual actions and events but broader systems, policies, or cultural norms that might have contributed to the issue; (3) use data to confirm patterns, as root causes typically reveal themselves through patterns over time, while proximate causes appear isolated; (4) address both of the levels, treating the proximate cause immediately and tackling the root cause to prevent reoccurrence; (5) don’t shy away from trying tools like fishbone diagrams, five-whys analyses, Pareto analyses, and systems-thinking to explore the proximate and root causes in detail.

Thought-provoking insights. “If you only treat the symptoms, the disease will persist.” highlights how addressing proximate causes results in recurring problems. “Fix the system, not the person.” shows how root causes often lie in policies and/or environments in lieu of individual behaviors. Root causes are often invisible. Proximate causes are obvious and immediate. Do not be fooled. Dig deeper. Resolve forever. Understand that treating the root will result in a more sustainable, long-term path towards growth. Challenge your assumptions. Do it more often.

Questions to reflect on:

1. How can distinguishing root causes and symptoms improve how effective and long-lasting my solutions are?

2. How do proximate causes in my life contribute to recurring issues? Can I break the cycle?

3. How can I prioritize root-cause-oriented solutions over superficial ones in my personal and professional life?

4. What tools can I use to trace problems to their root causes

5. What are the short-term and long-term benefits between addressing the root versus the proximate cause of a given problem?

Quotes to make the biggest brains hurt:

1. "A problem well stated is a problem half solved." - Charles Kettering, American inventor and engineer.

2. "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." - Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist.

3. "Dig a well before you are thirsty." - Chinese proverb.

4. "Treat the cause, not the symptom." - Unknown author.

Example use cases:

1. Health: in healthcare, addressing the proximate cause is treating the symptoms of an illness, while identifying the root cause involves diagnosing and curing the underlying condition. Think treating the patient's high blood pressure with medication, versus adjusting lifestyle factors like diet and exercise that are the underlying cause of hypertension.

2. Business: addressing the proximate cause means resolving immediate operational discrepancies, while analyzing the behind-the-scenes processes can address the root cause. An instance is resolving frequent customer complaints about product quality by, instead of apologizing, implementing stricter quality control measures in the manufacturing process.

3. Education: solving the proximate cause might be helping a student with a specific academic challenge, while the root cause could be a broader issue like a learning disability or socio-economic element. Providing tutoring helps with the symptom, but a support program for the one with divorced parents who cannot afford workbooks pulls the problem at its roots.

4. Software: in software development, the proximate cause could be fixing a bug in the code, while the root cause is probably deeper in the code architecture that, when refactored, could prevent future crashes.