5 Whys Technique

Sometimes things get out of control. People misunderstand each other, computers crash, deliveries arrive late, and even the best of plans fall apart. In those situations it helps to know exactly what happened and to get to the bottom of it.

The 5 Whys is an investigatory, question-asking technique used to determine and identify the root of a problem, any problem. The primary goal of this strategy involves finding a solution by repeatedly asking the question “why”. By doing that you can separate the symptoms from the causes of a problem, and,-also including the question: “what caused the problem”.

History

The 5 Whys strategy was invented in the 1930s by Toyota Founder Kiichiro Toyoda’s father Sakichi and became popular in the 1970s through the Toyota Production System. They implemented this technique in their everyday business when trying to underline a particular problem. By using this technique effectively people can determine the root cause of any problem that occurs.

Although the Japanese invented this approach, there is written evidence that this method has been around for centuries, -and even dates back to 1390. John Gower, an English poet in his poem Confesio Amantis (“The Lover’s Confession”), has written the following rhyme:

Use in management

Nowadays the 5 Whys are used in every segment of people’s lives, both personally and professionally, one example can be noted is in management.

The main thing in management is that you should gather everyone involved because if you don’t, then you can end up getting different answers from individuals and that will not get you the solution to a problem.

Here is an example of an online purchase that wasn’t delivered.

The shipment of clothes bought on a website wasn’t delivered to a customer.

1. Why?
   Because the customer got a phone call from customs and they said that he had to pay a customs fee.
2. Why did he have to pay a customs fee?
   On the website it said that shipping is free.
3. Why should he pay for something when it says free shipping?
   It turns out that customs varies from country to country (depending on the law)
4. Why didn’t he check the custom law before he made an online purchase?
   He didn’t know that in his country there is no such thing as free shipment.

So, in this case we got to the bottom of the problem on question 4. Usually it takes five, but not necessarily always. The resolution to a problem is always the same, asking the same question again and again until we reach the root.

Another example would be a person, a father, who wants to open his own online business.

1. Why does he want to do this?
   It will allow him the freedom to spend time how he wishes.
2. Why does he want that freedom?
   So that he can have more flexibility in his life.
3. Why does he want more flexibility?
   Because he will be able to work from home.
4. Why does he want to work from home?
   He will be able to spend more time with his son and daughter.
5. Why does he want to spend more time with his family?
   Supporting his family is the most important thing to him.

So in this case we have a father who realized what his priorities are and what is the most important thing for him.

The next example would be of a restaurant business; a customer was waiting for an hour to get her meal.

1. Why was she waiting for so long?
   Because the waiter didn’t get her order.
2. Why didn’t he get her order?
   Because he was too busy serving other customers.
3. Why was he too busy serving other customers?
   Because during rush hour there are too many people coming for lunch, and during other hours the place isn’t so busy and he is alone during shift.
4. Why is he by himself?
   Because the owner of the restaurant wasn’t told about the lack of staff.
5. Why wasn’t the owner told about the lack of staff?
   Because the waiter wanted to keep all the tips for himself.

Funny but true story, with a happy ending of course, because the owner of this restaurant immediately hired a new person.

The last example would from psychological view, a patient came to the psychotherapist office saying that she has a problem, she feels lonely and isolated. The psychotherapist asked her:

1. Why do you feel l lonely and isolated?
   Because nobody from the “Admiral” wife’s club would spend time with me.
2. Why do you think that nobody from the Admiral” wife’s club would spend time with you?
   Must be because I am boring to them.
3. Why do you think that you are boring to them?
   Probably because I’m unpopular in their circle.
4. Why do you think that you are unpopular in their circle?
   Because nobody wants to talk to me.
5. Why do you think that nobody wants to talk to you?
   Because we don’t have a common topics to talk about and we have different interests.

By the end of the 5th question we could see that this woman is lonely, but not because of what she thought at first, that she is boring and unpopular, but she realized that she has been spending time with the kind of people that she doesn’t have anything in common with.
So the psychotherapist recommended that she tries different activities where she can meet different types of people. And she did. And now she doesn’t feel lonely and she doesn’t have low self-esteem issues anymore.

Criticism

The 5 Whys approach has been criticized by Teruyuki Minoura, former managing director of global purchasing in Toyota, as being too basic, not complex enough. The results are not repeatable, different people using 5 Whys come up with different causes for the same solution. The conception of the root cause as the end of the chain is unsatisfying when developing the best corrective actions. The links between the first and the last often contain crucial information for helping to correct the problem. The entire chain of events is important, not just the last link in the chain.

Summary

This method is more than just an investigatory process or a simple question asking activity. The aim behind this technique is to get the right people in the room to discuss all possible root causes. For big and complex systems, you know you are done gathering information when you see the complete picture from start till end. The conclusion is not to be found only at the end of a chain, in fact, there is no end, there is only a decision to stop gathering information. If you review the bottom point without considering other factors, it is a limiting approach. Being aware of the entire chain will help you broaden a large scale of possible corrective actions.