The 5 Whys: How to Identify the Root Cause of Your Problem

You come home after a long day at work and pull into the driveway, only to find that the front lawn has not been mowed.  Instead of responding as you usually do, by blaming your son, you change your approach and decide to use the 5 Whys instead.

Recently, you read a great article on a tool called the 5 Whys that can be used to drill down to the root cause of a problem.

So, when you encounter your son Billy, after asking him how his day went, you start with the first why. “Hey Billy, I’m wondering why you didn’t mow the lawn today…”

“Because the mower broke”, he replies.

“Well, instead of my going bananas and grounding you, as usual, today we are going to try something different. We are going to figure out the real reason the lawn was not mowed by using a tool called the 5 Whys.”

Although he seems a little skeptical, Billy goes along with the plan as it seems much better, at least initially than the status quo of getting grounded.

You begin your explanation by telling him about the premise behind the 5 Whys, which is…

Asking Questions to Reveal the Root Cause of a Problem

When most people ask questions, they ask them “one mile wide and one inch deep”, meaning the questions are superficial at best and really don’t get at the root cause of the problem. However, by using a tool called the 5 Whys we are asking questions that go “one inch wide and a mile deep”. In other words, we are probing for the root cause of a problem at a much higher level of detail.

To quote the British poet, Edward Hodnett:

“If you don’t ask the right questions, you don’t get the right answers. A question asked in the right way often points to its own answer. Asking questions is the ABC of diagnosis. Only the inquiring mind solves problems.”

You Then Explain How the 5 Whys Work

The 5 Whys are a method to get to the root cause of your problem, and as their names imply, 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.

Then, after the root cause is identified, the next step is to ask “how” the problem can be solved.

Many of us attempt to solve problems by first asking “how” we will solve them without fully understanding “why” they are occurring in the first place. So, what typically happens is that we end up addressing a symptom of the problem instead of the problem itself. This means that the problem is still there, and we will still need to deal with it.

Now It’s Time to Show Billy How it Works

“Ok, now Billy, let’s see if we can use the 5 Whys to figure out the real reason that the lawn wasn’t mowed. This will help us understand the root cause of the problem and come up with a way to correct it in the future, rather than sending blame in the wrong direction aka you.”

Although he was still a bit skeptical, you can see a sense of relief come over Billy as this seems like a good thing for him.

You pull out a piece of paper and start using the 5 Whys to figure out together why the lawn was not mowed.

Why #1: Why did the lawn not get mowed?
Answer: Because the mower broke.

Why #2: Why did the mower break?
Answer #2: After some investigation, you and Billy figure out that the bearing had burned out.

Why #3: Why did the bearing burn out?
Answer #3:  After more investigation, you realize it hadn’t been oiled properly.

Why #4: Why had it not been oiled properly?
Answer #4:  It had not been oiled properly because the oil line was plugged.

Why #5: Why was the oil line plugged?
Answer #5: Because the lawnmower has not been maintained on a consistent basis.

Aha! You realize the root cause for the lawn not being mowed was that the lawnmower has not been maintained consistently! You and Billy give each other a high five and move on to the next step which is to ask “how” to correct the root cause of the problem.

How: How can we prevent this from happening in the future?
Countermeasure: Take the mower in for maintenance every 6 months.

So, by taking the lawnmower in for maintenance every six months you address the root cause for the lawn not being mowed, Billy doesn’t get grounded – and everyone is happy.

Let’s now look at the steps needed to perform the 5 whys:

How to perform the 5 Whys – Use it or Lose It

(1)  State your problem in clear terms.

(2)  Ask ‘Why’ of the problem the first time.

(3)  Keep asking ‘Why’ until you cannot ask ‘Why’ anymore.

(4)  This will lead you to the root cause of your problem.

(5)  Then come up with a countermeasure to keep the problem from happening again by asking “what?”

(6)  Test it out and make sure the problem does not happen again.

(7)  If it keeps happening, you may need to try another countermeasure or do perform the 5 Whys again.

Later That Evening

You and Billy are chatting about the lessons learned today regarding the 5 Whys and the importance of questioning things at a deeper level.

As you are walking him upstairs to get him ready for bed, you ask him if he can think of any other situations where the 5 Whys may apply in his life.

He thinks about it for a moment, and then with a mischievous grin and twinkle in his eye he says:

“Why do I have to go to bed right now?”

“Smart kid”, you think to yourself before preparing for the oncoming onslaught of “why’s”.

Until next time, keep using the 5 Whys, and as always…PYMFP!!
–Rick

When to Use It

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 simple and does not have multiple causes

What Do You Think?

Have you ever used the 5 Whys? Do you have any other examples of the 5 Whys? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

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