Barrier Analysis (Wilson et al) may be used where implementation problems are being experienced. It amounts to a straightforward set of questions that are addressed to an unwanted problem or event:
- What are the threats, hazards or potential problems that can influence the situation? Threats may be physical or psychological, or influence status, security, or self esteem.
- Who or what are the "Targets" for change? In any change there will be victims and beneficiaries, some perhaps unintended. It is useful to list these. The target may be human, animal, organisation, environment, group, team, family, or other.
- What are the barriers? These may be physical, geographic, communication, language, culture, administrative, organisational. Also, what are the safeguards that are supposed to be in place to make the change easier or more acceptable, and if they are not in place, why are they not. Should the threat be isolated, or should the target be isolated, or both?
- What is the "Trace". That is, what is the sequence of events or history that has lead up to this situation? Real or imaginary.
Remember that people don't resist change, they resist being changed.
Further reading:
T Finlow-Bates, "The Root Cause Myth", The TQM Magazine, Volume 10 Number 1, 1998, pp10-15
The following book has some useful material in relation to the last section, but also much material of low relevance
Paul Wilson, Larry Dell, Gaylord Anderson, Root Cause Analysis: A Tool for Total Quality Management, ASQC Quality Press, Milwaukee, WI, 1993, ISBN 0-97389-163-5