THE 5 WHY

The 5 WHY is a very effective way to solve problems. It makes it possible to research and find the root causes. The 5 Whys method was created and developed by Toyota founder Sakichi Toyoda.

“The basis of Toyota’s science-based approach is to ask why five times, each time we find a problem … By repeating ‘why’ five times, the nature of the problem, as well as its solution, becomes evident. » Taiichi Ohno

The designers of this tool estimate that we ask 5 times “why? », We are looking more and more into the causes of the problem. Which helps to identify the roots of the dysfunction. It is like a surgical strike to ideally collectively understand the cause and effect that generates a situation or a fact.
It will take rapid iterations of analysis to arrive at better understandings of root causes.

WHY USE THE 5 WHY METHOD?

This is one of the practices that helps stimulate more Kaizen!

Kaizen originates from two Japanese words Kai (which means “change”) and Zen (which means “good”). Kaizen, therefore, amounts to saying “good change” or in other words, “continuous improvement”. It is a concept or philosophy applied in companies and the aim of which is to promote the search for performance and permanent improvement without requiring large investments.

The application of this practice is very broad.

The 5 whys can be practiced ad hoc to analyze a situation: It can be used at any time when trying to figure out what happened or to solve a problem while identifying all of its root causes (or to understand habits to stimulate personal development).

It’s often practiced during a retrospective a ceremonial based on the practices of short meetings, to establish a dynamic of continuous improvement, promoted by agile methods: SCRUM, KANBAN, CRYSTAL, and A3 LEAN.

In general, the retrospective helps individuals, teams, and organizations to:
• Develop a state of mind, a way of doing things, and a culture of improvement.
• Identify dysfunctions (technical and interpersonal) to remedy them.
“Do it better, make it better, improve it even if it’s not broken, because if we don’t do it, we can’t compete with those who do. “Better than yesterday, worse than tomorrow. “

Why the 5 why method?

• A very simple and quick tool to practice;
• A remarkable ROI: little effort but a lot of change;
• Understand better what is happening and go beyond the hypotheses that are on the surface;
• Foster teamwork and collaboration to understand the problem and solve it.

START WITH THE 5 WHY

To start practicing this method at work, here’s what to do:

• Form a transversal team: you must know, first of all, that this is not an individual task, it must be carried out by a team. The latter allows you to take advantage of unique perspectives and gather enough information to better understand the situation being analyzed.
• Define the problem or situation to be analyzed: it is very important to discuss the problem with the team, this allows you to define the extent of the problem and find innovative and effective solutions.
• Identify the root causes of the problem: ask why and look for the causes of the problem based on real facts, not opinions and emotional reactions.
• Refine the analyzes: Once the causes are determined, the whole team participates in the review of the whole analysis and adjusts it accordingly to the participants’ discussions.

TO FINISH…

It is advisable to start by analyzing the recurring problems that impact the most, teams and the organization.
And remember that asking the why question can be understood as intrusive or as pressure to justify yourself. Take the time to clarify that the why in our context does not seek a culprit, but rather a fact, a cause.
Here is the first guideline to remind participants at the start and during the workshop if needed:

Everyone did the best job they could. Gave what he knew at the right time, based on skills, abilities, and resources available. And that the situation is as it is.

If you have any questions or if you want to speak to our Agile coach squad: Contact us

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