Analysing system failure
Exercise
Analysing failure with multiple cause diagrams
Imagine that as the manager of a hospital you have the problem that patients are spending an unacceptable time on trolleys in a corridor next to the admissions unit, sometimes hours or even days. The following have been identified as relevant factors:
- patients waiting in corridor
- too many people being admitted
- too many people are presenting at A&E
- too many accidents and incidents
- no beds are available in the wards
- there are insufficient beds for the population
- beds are blocked by elderly patients
- some patients have no carer at their home
- transport provision is unreliable and patients cannot be discharged
- there is no accommodation available in residential homes
(a) Arrange these factors into a multiple cause diagram
(b) Put pluses and minuses on your arrows to make a sign graph
You may have to adjust your multiple cause diagram to make it into a sign diagram. This reflects the usual evolutionary nature of systems thinking. The diagramming tools in these exercises often help and inform the process of reflection on a system and its behaviour.
When you have finished move on to the next step to see our diagrams.