Isolated Event
A contained occurrence with a reasonably clear cause, time frame, and direct response that fits.
What occurred?
THE RECURRING PROBLEM ASSESSMENT
When the same problem keeps coming back.
A free 20-minute first systemic read for coaches, consultants, and organizational leaders.
Choose one recurring problem. Bring what you already know about it. The RPA helps you determine whether the visible explanation appears sufficient, where evidence of systemic pressure may be present, and what deserves investigation next.
Find out what kind of problem you’re looking at.
A recurring problem does not automatically mean there is a hidden systemic cause. Sometimes the issue is contained. Sometimes a process, role, or design problem keeps reproducing the same outcome. And sometimes the recurrence points toward wider system conditions that deserve investigation.
The RPA helps you make that distinction before you reach for another intervention.
Recurring Pattern
Similar organizational conditions repeatedly produce similar behaviors or outcomes, even when details change.
What keeps occurring?
Possible System-Level Dynamic
The pattern persists despite reasonable attempts to address it, or wider conditions involving culture, authority, history, loyalty, silence, or other systemic forces may be sustaining it.
What else may be organizing the recurrence?
Not every event is a pattern. Not every pattern is systemic. Truly recursive problems deserve systemic inquiry.
SAME SYMPTOM. DIFFERENT SYSTEM.
The visible problem may not be the whole problem.
The presenting issue tells you where the strain is visible. It does not necessarily tell you where the conditions sustaining it are located.
A communication breakdown...
may be partly about what can and cannot safely be said.
A performance problem...
may be partly about responsibility without enough authority, support, or role clarity.
Ongoing conflict...
may be carrying pressure produced somewhere else in the structure or relationship system.
An accountability issue...
may persist because the operating reality quietly rewards avoidance or makes ownership unusually costly.
Before asking only “Why is this happening?” add another question: “What is going on here?”
WHAT THE RPA HELPS YOU DO
Turn a familiar problem into a better next question.
The RPA can help you
- recognize meaningful evidence of recurrence
- distinguish an event, recurring pattern, and possible system-level dynamic
- identify where the visible explanation appears incomplete
- notice where evidence clusters across the five Fields
- improve the quality and location of your next inquiry
- slow the rush to another familiar intervention
THIS IS NOT A ONE-TIME QUIZ
Use it whenever a problem starts to feel familiar.
Return to the RPA when a problem resurfaces, changes form, moves to another part of the system, or persists despite a reasonable intervention.
Client CaseLeadership TeamChange InitiativeRecurring Conflict
Each use strengthens the habit of reading beneath the symptom instead of reacting only to the latest episode.
GET THE FREE RPA
Bring one recurring problem. Then look again.
You do not need another generic culture quiz. You need a disciplined way to examine whether the explanation you have been working with is large enough.
Inside you’ll find a guided assessment, a simple score profile, and next-step prompts you can use with one live recurring problem.
The RPA helps you see where to look.