Mandelbrot
I remember my first-time playing pool back in 2011. I was in a remote part of southern Punjab on an audit assignment. My skills were questionable, they still are, but I quickly grasped the game’s basics: use a stick to hit the white cue ball, which in turn knocks colored or striped balls into pockets. Simple, right? But it got me thinking: What really causes those balls to go into the pockets?
You might say it’s the cue ball. After all, it’s the last thing to touch the numbered ball before it sinks into the pocket. But that’s not the entire story. The cue ball doesn’t move by itself; it needs a player to set it in motion using the stick. It’s this initial force that truly starts the chain reaction, serving as the root cause behind the action.
This idea of a ‘root cause’ isn’t just useful for understanding pool; it’s crucial for navigating life, especially when it comes to taking responsibility for our actions. A root cause is the basic reason behind an undesirable outcome. If you address it, you can prevent the problem from happening again. The cue ball is essential, but it’s not the root cause; it’s what we call a ‘proximate cause,’ the final step before the result.
This became vividly clear to me during the crypto frenzy of 2021. I invested and, like many, lost a hefty sum. My instinct was to blame everything but myself: the market, the speculative nature of crypto, or even friends who got rich quick. But the real issue? What I failed to acknowledge was my own lack of understanding—both of market cycles and human behavior. I’d allowed my emotions to override logic, entering the market at its peak when optimism was sky-high. This, in turn, set me up for the inevitable bust.
So how can we get better at identifying these root causes, rather than settling for proximate ones that merely help us deflect blame? Here are some steps I’ve found helpful:
- Reflect on the Situation: Take some time to think deeply about what happened. This often means confronting uncomfortable truths, questioning convenient excuses and challenging our own narratives.
- Keep Asking ‘Why’: Don’t stop at the first answer. Keep asking yourself ‘why’ until you can’t simplify the reason any further.
- Own Your Part: It’s tempting to blame external circumstances or other people, but we usually play a role in our own outcomes. This isn’t about feeling guilty; it’s about taking control of what you can influence.
Understanding the root cause of an issue doesn’t just offer a solution to a particular problem; it provides a lens through which we can view our life. We begin to see the patterns, the recurring themes that we’ve perhaps ignored or been unaware of.
In many ways, life is like that game of pool. We’re either the player or the cue ball, either taking charge or being pushed around. If we focus only on the cue balls—the proximate causes—we’ll find ourselves perpetually stuck, a passive participant in our own life. But if we look for the player—the root cause—we gain the ability to change the game.
So, the next time we find ourselves skirting responsibility or blaming the circumstances, we can ask ourselves: Are we just reacting to the cue balls life throws our way, or are we actively seeking out the player, the root cause? Are we merely a passive observer, or are we taking the steps necessary to truly understand—and therefore control—our actions and their consequences?