Fundemental Attribution Error

"Over 90% of the problems that arise in a corporation are better solved somewhere other than where they appear." — Russ Ackoff


I’m usually brought into an organization to solve a specific problem: “Teams are not delivering enough” or “requirements are not well defined”. In almost all cases, these issues are just symptoms of an underlying problem, the root of which is to be solved elsewhere. 

Not understanding this phenomenon can often result in making the problem worse. Take lower back pain as an example. Oftentimes, lower back pain is caused by an issue somewhere else in the body. Trying to massage the specific area of pain will only cause more inflammation. 

The same phenomenon exists in corporations. 

This cognitive bias is referred to by systems thinkers as the 'Fundamental Attribution Error'(FAE); attributing the issue to the individual or a localized part of the system rather than the overall systems. 

The first step in correcting FAE is knowing that this bias exists and that trying to solve the problem at the localized level will most likely just make things worse.

So, what's the solution? 

Use the symptom as a signal to explore the real cause of the pain. In the case of lower back pain, it is usually tight hip flexors from sitting too much.

To discover the cause in an organization system, you will need to learn to see through the lens of tools like causal loop diagraming and root cause techniques such as 5-whys.

“If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it,” Albert Einstein.

Some further resources on FAE: