From the course: Universal Principles of Design
Join today to access over 22,600 courses taught by industry experts or purchase this course individually.
Root cause
- Hi. I'm William Lidwell, and this is Universal Principles of Design. In this movie a root cause for want of a nail. For want of a nail a shoe was lost. For want of the shoe, a horse was lost. For want of the horse, a knight was lost. For want of the knight, a battle was lost. For want of the battle, a kingdom was lost, and all for want of a nail. This proverb, which dates back to at least the 14th Century, exemplifies the foremost challenge of design, that is, developing a deep understanding of problems. The temptation, in fact the human tendency, is to presume that problems have single, proximal causes, the cause immediately preceding the problem. The kingdom was lost because the battle was lost, and that's it. That is how news is typically reported, how history is typically written, and how courses are typically taught, but this is rarely the case in reality. The kingdom was lost due to a paucity of nails. That is the deeper truth in the proverb, the root cause. But, of course…
Download courses and learn on the go
Watch courses on your mobile device without an internet connection. Download courses using your iOS or Android LinkedIn Learning app.