According to the World Economic Forum,1 the top two skills that humans need to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution (i.e. the age of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence), are “Critical Thinking” and “Complex Problem Solving.” The BlueDragon Complex Problem Solving Engine is an accurate, scalable, flexible, repeatable, efficient and cost-effective framework that combines critical thinking tools with innovative “Lean” and “Agile” techniques that help to quickly and accurately identify the root causes and contributing factors that are causing human performance issues, equipment malfunctions and organizational and programmatic breakdowns. In most cases, BlueDragon cuts many man-weeks from traditional root cause analyses and accident investigations. The process is structured to eliminate much of the bias and undue influence that often plagues such analyses and can be easily scaled down to conduct apparent cause evaluations. More importantly, BlueDragon can be used proactively to identify root causes before they cause significant events.

BlueDragon was developed and refined by the author after more than 29 years as a root cause practitioner in the commercial nuclear power industry and the federal government. The author focused on creating a method that is simple to understand and used by a wide range of groups; from university students who need real-world problem-solving and critical thinking skills before entering the workforce, to the federal government and regulated industries that are required to perform root cause analysis for complex and significant problems and take actions to prevent recurrence. Additionally, BlueDragon does not require the use of proprietary software, making it affordable and arguably the most cost-effective method on the market.