5 Whys

Introduction
When it comes to problem solving, there are a lot of tools used by
engineers, project managers and people tasked with finding improvements.
The tools range in complexity from mind boggling levels of complexity to
so simple, even a child could use it. 5 whys comes in as one of the
simplest tools you can use one the job, with its simplicity it is easy to
quickly dismiss it; but it is generally accepted as one of the strongest tools
when it comes to problem solving.

5 Whys originated from Toyota in Japan and is used primarily for root
cause analysis. The importance of root cause analysis is simple; you get
solutions that are long lasting and far reaching when you tackle problems
from the root instead of wasting time on symptoms. A quick example
would be treating malaria every month instead of installing mosquito nets
on windows, both solutions will solve the malaria problem, but one of
them is obviously a superior solution. Treating root causes will always
yield better results than battling with symptoms constantly.
Using The Technique 
Using 5 Whys is extremely straight forward, the hint is in the name, you
simply have to ask “why” 5 times. There is no hard and fast rule that
guides how many times “why” should actually be asked; but with most
simple problems, once you get to the fifth why, you should have gotten to
the root cause. There are problems where you get to the root cause by the
third “why” and there are very complex problems which can have you
asking why up to 20 times and ending up with a Why Tree (A slightly
more advanced application of 5 Whys). What we will instead focus on is
tackling simpler problems and solving problems you may encounter in
your daily life.
Example
To help illustrate the concept, we can use the example of mosquitoes and
malaria stated earlier. With finding root causes, it is best to identify the
problem correctly, if not, your root cause analysis might not yield the
results you expect. In this case the problem is constantly contracting
malaria, with you trying to understand the cause (the “why”). So, let us
proceed.

 First Why (Why do I have malaria): Because I am being bitten by

mosquitoes
 Second Why (Why am I being bitten by mosquitoes): Because
there are mosquitoes in my bedroom

If we stopped here, we would end up fumigating our room. This would

have to be done constantly and would end up being a very expensive
solution to a simple problem; so we continue to ask “why”

 Third Why (Why are there mosquitoes in my bedroom): Because

there are no mosquito nets on the windows

          Now we are at a point where a solution would yield longer lasting

results, we can decide to stop here and implement a solution which is to
install mosquito nets on windows.
Conclusion
          From the analysis above you might have noticed one issue with
using 5 Whys, when do you know when to stop? This is one criticism of
the method; the quality of execution comes down to experience and
familiarity with whatever is being analyzed. This is why for complex
problems; the exercise is done in a brainstorming session with people from
various backgrounds and a facilitator to guide discussions. With these
precautions, teams sometimes end up on symptoms; it happens, but
solving a symptom that is 4 Whys down is much better than solving a
surface level symptom.

          The 5 Whys tool is one that you can start using from today and
seeing positive results almost immediately. Just think of a child asking
why constantly and you are already half way to mastering the technique.