Do you ever wonder WHY something happened?
Have you ever wanted to know the root cause of a problem or defect?
The Five whys (or 5 whys) technique is here to help!
This iterative interrogative technique seeks to uncover the cause-and-effect relationships with just 5 simple ‘Why?’ Questions.
Just keep asking ‘Why?’ And you’ll get closer and closer to the root of the issue. And before you know it, you’ll have the answer to the fifth ‘Why?’ – the root cause of the problem.
The technique was originally developed by Sakichi Toyoda and was used within the Toyota Motor Corporation during the evolution of its manufacturing methodologies. It is a critical component of problem-solving training, delivered as part of the induction into the Toyota Production System, as per Wikipedia.
The last answer points to a process. This is one of the most important aspects in the five why approach.
Here is a relatable example we often use while problem-solving with customers.
1⃣: Why are our eCommerce products not selling as expected?
➡: Because they are not reaching the right target audiences.
2⃣: Why are our eCommerce products not reaching the right target audiences?
➡: Because we have not been optimizing our ads effectively.
3⃣: Why are our ads not optimized effectively?
➡: Because we don’t know which ads to create, how much to spend, what type of content to include, and how to create them.
4⃣: Why do we not know which ads to create, how much to spend, what type of content to include, and how to create them?
➡:Because we have not invested enough time and resources into learning about and testing different advertising options available on Facebook.
5⃣: Why haven’t we invested enough time and resources into learning about and testing different advertising options available on Facebook?
➡: Because we have not invested sufficient resources into researching and testing different ad options.
Try using the five whys framework in your next problem-solving session and let me know how it goes 🗨
