Ask This Word 5 Times to Figure Out the Reason for Your Problem
Uh oh, Mark’s wife is on a rampage! So, he reaches out to Rick for help to figure out the reason she is pissed.
In today’s advice column, you will learn about a tool called the 5 Whys. The 5 Whys are a method to get to the root cause of your problem, and as their names implies, all you need to do is ask ‘Why?’ 5 times. Now you may get to the root cause of your problem after 3 why’s and it may take you 10 why’s (not usually, but you get the point). The idea is to keep “peeling back the onion” by asking why to get to a deeper understanding of why the problem is happening. On to the story…
From: Mark Y<Mark_Y_6969@msn.com>
Sent: February 6, 2018 9:25 AM
To: Rick Melnyck <rmelnyck@hotmail.com>
Subject: Advice needed
Hey Rick,
Need some advice from you. My wife is on a rampage, she’s always pissed at me and I am not sure what to do about it, it usually has to do with me not completing chores on time. This time, it’s because I didn’t finish putting together the crib for the little bundle of joy that is coming by the date I promised her I would.
Any tools or methods you could suggest would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark
From: Rick Melnyck <rmelnyck@hotmail.com>
Sent: February 6, 2018 10:06 AM
To: Mark Y<Mark_Y_6969@msn.com>
Subject: RE: Advice needed
Hey Mark,
Dude, you need to figure out why you can’t get chores done on time. Go online and read about the 5 Whys, it is a great technique to help you figure out the reason for your problem. Let me know what happens.
Thanks,
Rick
From: Mark Y<Mark_Y_6969@msn.com>
Sent: February 8, 2018 7:19 AM
To: Rick Melnyck <rmelnyck@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: RE: Advice needed
Hey Rick,
See below for how I used the 5 Whys to figure out the root cause of my problem:
Problem: My wife is unhappy
Why #1: Why is my wife unhappy?
Answer: I didn’t get the new crib put together by the time I promised her I would.
Why #2: Why didn’t I get the new crib put together by the time I promised her I would?
Answer: Because it took a lot longer than I thought it would.
Why #3: Why did it take a lot longer than I thought it would?
Answer: I didn’t understand what was required
Why #4: Why didn’t I understand what was required?
Answer: Because I didn’t read the instructions
Why #5: Why didn’t I read the instructions?
Answer: Because I am a guy!
Counter measure: Don’t promise to be done by a certain time anymore!
So, the root cause of the problem is because I am a guy. Lesson learned, next time I will do things differently! I will not promise her anything!
Ok, ok, that’s a bad countermeasure.
I will suck it up, put my ego aside and my real counter measure will be to read the damn instructions next time. It makes sense, I am not that handy, so I usually need to figure out how to do stuff, which always delays me and makes her pissed.
Thanks,
Mark
Use It or Lose It!
To perform the 5 Whys:
State your problem in clear terms
Ask ‘Why’ of the problem the first time
Keep asking ‘Why’ until you cannot ask ‘Why’ anymore
This will lead you to the root cause of your problem
Then come up with a counter-measure to keep the problem from happening again
Test it out and make sure the problem does not happen again
If it keeps happening, you may need to try another countermeasure or do perform the 5 Whys again
When to Use the 5 Whys
If you want to find the root cause for a problem, so you can solve it rather address symptoms of the problem
If the problem is fairly simple and does not have multiple causes
Discuss…
What problems have you used the 5 Whys on in your life?
Thanks for reading and until next time, remember…PYMFP!
-Rick
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