How "5 whys" of troubleshooting always exposes the root cause
One of the key business success factors that I have followed over the years is always trying to determine the root cause of any business problem. I focus on the root cause because anything less than that will not allow you to completely solve the problem.
The reason this is important is because most people only look at the symptoms that are causing the problem, not the root cause.
There is an easy way to determine the root cause of a problem and it is called “The 5 Whys”.
Many years ago, Toyota Corporation founder Sakichi Toyota developed the “5 Whys” technique that was used and is used within the corporation’s manufacturing methodologies and is still considered a critical component of problem solving. problems at Toyota.
The “5 why” process is simply asking the “why” question 5 times. Let me give you an example of how to just get to the symptoms of a problem.
-My car won’t start (the problem)
WHY?
-The battery is dead (the symptom)
So the solution to the problem in this case is to recharge the battery. But the following week, you have the same dead battery problem. So you go to the auto parts store and buy a new battery because apparently the old battery won’t charge.
However, the following week the new battery also dies.
So even though it addressed the symptom of the problem, it didn’t actually solve the whole problem because the battery keeps discharging.
Now. Let’s take the same problem and apply the “5 Whys” process.
-My car won’t start (the problem)
1. Why
-The battery is dead
2. Why
-The alternator does not work
3. why
-The alternator belt is broken
4. Why
-It was worn and I did not replace it
5. why
I was too lazy
So the main cause why the car won’t start is the laziness of the person, not the discharged battery. Dead battery is a symptom. The key is to exhort yourself not to assume anything and to avoid logical pitfalls. Instead, the solution is to follow the symptoms through “The 5 Whys” until you find the root cause of the problem.
Often times, you will see that the root cause of the problem is not identified because it has a faulty process or no process at all. In this case, you should be wondering what process is running, if any, and if so, is it the correct process.
Also, a key phrase to keep in mind in any “5 why” exercise is that people don’t always fail. Sometimes the process does.