Fixing symptoms feels productive, but it leaves the cause intact. Diagnosis is the discipline of asking “why” until you reach a root you can actually change.
Root causes usually live in assumptions, incentives, or process design. A person’s mistake may be a trigger, but the deeper question is why the system allowed the mistake to pass unchecked. If you only blame individuals, you miss the machine.
Diagnosis requires evidence. What exactly happened? Under what conditions? What information was missing? What standard was unclear? When the diagnosis is specific, the solution becomes repeatable.
Diagnosis also demands emotional control. People fear it because it can expose weakness. A healthy culture treats it as problem-solving, not humiliation.