Five whys

Advice 1. If you keep going, you may end up receiving tons of unreasonable suggestions and complaints, which is not the purpose. Focus on finding the root cause. Advice 2. Sometimes there could be more than one root cause. In these cases, the 5 Whys analysis will look more like a matrix with different branches. This may even help you detect and eliminate organizational issues that have permanent negative effects on the overall performance.

After the team detects the root cause s , it is time to take corrective actions. All members should be involved in a discussion to find and apply the best solution that will protect your process from recurring problems. When the decision is made, one of the team members should be responsible for applying the right actions and observing the whole process.

After a certain period of time, the team needs to meet again and check if their actions actually had a positive impact.

If not, the process should be repeated. In the end, the case should be documented and sent across the organization. Sharing this information will give an insightful overview of different kinds of problems a team may face and how those problems can be eliminated. Try Kanbanize for free. In Summary. The 5 Whys technique is a simple and effective tool for solving problems. During the day trial period you can invite your team and test the application in a production-like enviroment.

Go back to all. Share on:. Here is an example of applying the 5 Whys. Updates were not implemented until the deadline. Why were the updates not implemented on time? Because the developers were still working on the new features. Why were the developers still working on the new features? Why was the new developer unfamiliar with all procedures? Both are designed to bring clarity and refinement to a problem statement or a potential solution and get to the root cause or root solution.

Figure 1: Five Whys Process. While both methods are techniques to expand the horizon of a team searching for answers, there are distinct uses for five whys and five hows. However, both of these two techniques force a team to develop a better and more detailed understanding of a problem or solution and will be helpful in the root cause analysis process.

You can also search articles , case studies , and publications for five whys and five hows resources. Digging For The Root Cause Six Sigma Forum Magazine Six Sigma training covers five popular identification tools, including the five whys technique, because some aspects of these tools are usually overlooked, such as when and where to stop and how to differentiate multiple causes through a weighing system that prevents loss of focus.

Why Ask Why? Quality Progress Using the five whys technique is valuable to discovering latent causes because identifying them early can prevent other organizational issues. Cart Total: Checkout. Learn About Quality. Magazines and Journals search. The simplest way of conducting the Five Whys test is to simply write it down on a piece of paper.

However, the fishbone, or the Ishikawa diagram , can help during the initial process of identifying problems. The diagram can reveal problems that may need the five whys for a deeper look. Then, you can gather all of the root-cause-effect relationships and evaluate which of them had the greatest impact on the original problem. Learn how a system of apps can digitize your lean manufacturing practices, collect and analyze data in real-time, and reduce human errors with a day free trial.

Skip to content. What are the Five Whys? In some cases, it may take more or fewer whys, depending on the depth of the root cause. It is simple, and it works.