How to think and solve difficult

problems like a genius:

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It's very simple to react to a stated
problem without addressing the root
cause.

What you hear or see when something is

initially presented to you is usually the
surface-level pain point or struggle.

By asking the right questions, you can

get to the root and find a solution:
Here are the five questions:

1. Why?
2. Why?
3. Why?
4. Why?
5. Why?

Pretty simple, right?

Asking 'why' 5 times is a deceptively simple

process to identify the root cause behind an
initial problem.

Plus, anyone can do it with any problem.

Even a child can say, "why?"

Let's see how this works in practice.

You approach your manager and tell

him, "Our increased marketing budget
hasn't led to an increase in sales."

His response is, 'why?" (1)

You say, "high churn exists, and

customers are not reordering."
He says, "why?" (2)

You say, "customers were unhappy with

product quality."

He says, "why?" (3)

You say, "the designs were not effectively

implemented."

He says, "why?" (4)

You say, "the design and build teams were

not collaborating."
He says, "why?" (5)

You say, "because we have a toxic

competitive work environment."

The surface-level problem is the lack of

increased sales.

The root cause is that the competitive work

environment prevents teamwork.
Asking 5 'whys" allows you to dig beyond
the obvious cause to consider at least four
additional layers of sub-causes.

You can invest in the root cause first and

additional sub-causes proportionally, as
needed.

This prevents wasting any unnecessary

time on surface problems.
This is a mind-blowingly simple mental
model.

You can use it in response to a surprising

event.

Asking ‘why’ 5 times will take you to the

root quickly.

It helps you develop a deeper understanding

of the context and patterns behind any
surface issue.
If you want to go deeper on the power of
"Why" questions,

I highly recommend this short video from

the genius himself, Richard Feynman:

https://youtu.be/Q1lL-hXO27Q
That's a wrap!

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