Have you ever experienced a problem that kept recurring? Addressing a problem or failure mode more than once is time-consuming and a waste of valuable resources. The issue is that the root cause isn’t being identified or addressed. If you’re not getting to the root cause, you are merely treating a symptom of the problem. In addition, if a permanent remedy is not determined and implemented, the problem will eventually repeat. However, an easy-use tool can assist in eliminating repeat problems. This tool is known as 5 Whys analysis. Unpredicted problems might occur in any team or process. However, issues are just symptoms of deeper issues. Fixing a problem faster may be a convenient solution. However, it does not protect your work process from recurring errors. This is why your team must concentrate on identifying the root cause and tackle it properly.
The 5 Whys analysis, often known as the root cause analysis, is one of the seven fundamentals used in Six Sigma. The principle idea behind the tool is that there is a cause for every effect. Therefore, the quality issue can be seen as having multiple causes. However, it is also known that there is a series of reactions called symptoms before the cause reaches its effect. Therefore pinpointing and solving the problem at its source would benefit management. Every team encounters roadblocks in its daily work. However, using the 5 Whys will assist you in finding the root cause of any issues and protect the process from recurring errors and failures.
So, to enhance your career in quality management, Design for Six Sigma certification is a perfect choice. This Design for Six Sigma training delivered by Invensis Learning is ideal for anybody looking to understand this complex process improvement methodology. In this blog, you’ll get to know the 5 whys analysis is a simple but powerful tool for cutting rapidly through the external symptoms of a problem to discover its underlying causes so that you can resolve it once and for all.
Origin of 5 Whys
The 5 Whys technique was created in the 1930s by Sakichi Toyoda, a Japanese manufacturer, inventor, and founder of Toyota Industries. It became very famous in the 1970s, and Toyota still uses it to solve problems today. One of the essential variables for the successful implementation of the technique is to make an informed decision. This implies that the decision-making process should be based on an insightful grasp of what is happening on the work floor. In other words, people with real-world experience should be involved in the root cause analysis process. Then, logically, they can provide you with the most valuable information regarding any problem that appears in their area of expertise.
The method is remarkably simple: you drill down to its root cause by asking “Why?” five times when a problem occurs. Then, when a countermeasure becomes evident, you follow it to prevent the recurring issue. A countermeasure is an action or set of actions that seek to prevent the problem from arising again, while a solution may seek to deal with the symptom. Countermeasures are more robust and will more likely prevent the problem from recurring.
Before going to the depth of the topic, first, we need to understand the definition of What is 5 Whys analysis?
What is 5 Whys Analysis?
Five whys (5 whys) is an iterative inquisitive technique used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem. The primary objective of the technique is to determine the root cause of a defect or issue by repeating the question “Why?”. Each answer frames the basis of the next question. The “five” in the name derives from a recounted observation of the number of iterations to resolve the problem. Not all problems have a solitary root cause. If one wishes to reveal multiple root causes, the method must be repeated, asking a different sequence of questions each time. The method provides no rigid and fast rules about what lines of questions to investigate or how long to proceed with the search for additional root causes.
We got the definition of 5 Whys. Now, let us try to understand why we need 5 whys analysis?
Why Do We Need 5 Whys Analysis?
The primary advantage of the Five Whys is that it is one of the most powerful assessment methods of all non-statistical analyses. It can uncover and trace back to problems that were not obvious.
When applying the 5 Whys technique, you need to get to the problem’s essence and fix it. The 5 Whys may demonstrate to you that the source of the problem is quite unpredictable. Often, issues considered a technical problem turns out to be human and process issues. Therefore finding and eliminating the root cause is crucial to avoid iteration of failures.
As we have discussed why we need 5 whys analysis, now will discuss how to use 5 why analysis
How to Use the 5 Whys Analysis?
The 5 Whys technique will help you achieve continuous improvement at any level of your organization. Though the core of 5 Whys problem-solving is only asking five questions, we recommend some additional steps to bring the mental ability of your team members together and take action on the root causes you find. Following are some of the fundamental steps you need to follow.
- Gather your team
- Define the issue
- Ask “Why?”
- Ask “Why?” four more times
- Know When to Stop
- Address the Root Cause
- Monitor Your Measures
Now will see the detailed description of using the 5 Whys analysis.
Step 1: Gather Your Team
The 5 Whys approach is not an individual-based activity. Attempt to gather a team of people from various departments. Each representative must be familiar with the process that will be investigated. By forming a cross-functional team, you will receive unique points of view. This will help you collect sufficient information to make an informed decision. Keep in mind that this is not an individual task, and it needs to be executed by the team.
Step 2: Define the Issue
Discuss the issue with the team and make a concise problem statement. It will help you characterize the scope of the issue you will investigate. This is important because it investigates a wide-scope problem with hazy boundaries. Try to be as concentrated as possible to find a dynamic solution in the end.
For example, “Team A isn’t reaching its response time goals” or “Software release B caused too many rollback failures.” Then, write your assertion on a whiteboard or sticky note, leaving sufficient space around it to add your answers to the repeated question, “Why?”
Step 3: Ask “Why?”
Now it’s time for your team to inquire why the problem is happening. These questions need to address concrete problems, not just theories. Asking “Why?” sounds easy, but answering it requires genuine thought. Look for answers that are based on facts: they must be records of things that have happened, not guesses at what might have occurred. This blocks 5 Whys from becoming just a process of deductive reasoning, generating many possible causes and, sometimes, creating more confusion as you chase down theoretical issues.
The facilitator should inquire “Why” as many times as needed until the team can figure out the root cause of the initial issue.
Advice 1: Don’t ask an excessive number of Whys. If you keep going, you might end up getting tons of unreasonable suggestions and complaints, which is not the purpose. Instead, focus on finding the root cause.
Advice 2: In some cases, there could be multiple root causes. The 5 Whys analysis will resemble a matrix with various branches in these circumstances. This may even help you identify and eliminate organizational issues that permanently negatively affect the overall performance.
Step 4: Ask “Why?” Four More Times
Ask why four times, using the previous answer to base your question on. You will have five reasons for each “why?” question whenever you have done this. As previously mentioned, you might need to ask why more times than five if you haven’t got to the root of the problem.
Step 5: Know When to Stop
You will know when to stop asking “why?” when asking that question no longer produces good responses. On the off chance that if you haven’t gotten to the root cause of the issue, you might need to consider a more in-depth problem-solving method like FMEA or cause-and-effect analysis. If you’ve found more than one cause in step three, repeat the 5 Whys technique for each branch until you find a single root cause for each one. It is also important to ensure you haven’t stopped too soon and aren’t just accepting a knee-jerk or gut reaction. Please take it to the point where the team produces no reasonable responses.
Finally, you may find the root cause of the problem is that someone failed to take the necessary action. Again, the 5 Whys method lets you bypass blame and ask why that happened. Often, you will discover an underlying organizational issue or an area where the process needs to be improved.
Step 6: Address the Root Cause
Whenever you have identified the root cause of the problem, the entire team should discuss a list of corrective actions or countermeasures to prevent the problem from recurring. The 5 Whys Master should then assign which team members should take responsibility for each item on the list.
Step 7: Monitor Your Measures
It’s very important to carefully monitor how successful your countermeasures are in stopping the problem. If they aren’t as effective as you need them to be, it means you may not have found the true root cause, and you should repeat the 5 Whys technique from the beginning. In conclusion, record your findings and distribute them throughout your organization so that everyone can learn from this particular case study. Again, if this happens, it’s a good idea to repeat the 5 Whys process to ensure that you’ve identified the correct root cause.
Now, let us grab some ideas on using the 5 whys analysis in the next segment.
When Should We Use the 5 Whys Analysis?
You can use 5 Whys for quality improvement, troubleshooting, and problem-solving, but it is most effective to resolve simple or moderately difficult problems. However, it may not be suitable to tackle complex or critical issues. This is because 5 Whys can lead you down a single track, or a finite number of tracks, of inquiry when, indeed, there could be multiple causes. An extensive method such as cause and effect analysis or failure mode and effects analysis may be more effective in cases like these.
However, this simple technique can often direct you quickly to the root cause. So, whenever a process or system is not working perfectly, give it a shot before you embark on a more in-depth approach and certainly before you try to develop a solution. The tool’s simplicity gives it high flexibility, too, and 5 Whys combines well with other methods and techniques, such as Root Cause Analysis. It is often analogous with Lean Manufacturing, identifying and eliminating wasteful practices.
Importance of 5 Whys Analysis
The 5 Whys technique is a simple and powerful tool for solving problems. Its main goal is to track down the exact reason that causes a given issue by asking a sequence of “Why” questions.
- The 5 Whys method assists your team focus on finding the root cause of any problem
- It encourages each team member to share thoughts for continuous improvement, rather than accusing others
- It gives your team the confidence so that it can eliminate any issue and prevent the process from recurring failures
Techniques Used in 5 Whys Analysis
Two main techniques are used to perform a 5 whys analysis:
- The Fishbone (or Ishikawa) Diagram
- A Tabular Format
The Fishbone Diagram
Fishbone diagrams (also known as Ishikawa diagrams, herringbone diagrams, cause-and-effect diagrams, or Fishikawa) are causal diagrams created by Kaoru Ishikawa that demonstrate the potential causes of a particular event. Common uses of the fishbone diagram are product design and quality defect prevention to identify potential elements causing an overall impact. Each cause or justification for imperfection is a source of variation. To identify and characterize various sources of variation, causes are frequently classified into primary categories.
A Tabular Format
A table is an arrangement of data, typically in rows and columns or possibly in a more complicated structure. Tables are widely used in communication, research, and data analysis. Tables appear in print media, handwritten notes, computer software, architectural ornamentation, traffic signs, and many other places. The specific conventions and terminology for describing tables vary depending on the context. Further, tables differ significantly in variety, structure, flexibility, notation, representation, and use. Information or data conveyed in table form is in tabular format.
These techniques enable the spread of analysis to reveal various root causes.
Next, we will move towards the rules of performing a 5 why analysis.
Rules of Performing a 5 Whys Analysis
The five whys system can be personalized based on the particular needs of a given facility. However, most companies implementing this type of strategy will use some general rules or guidelines that can help keep the strategy focused. The following rules of performing the five whys are generally a good place to start for most situations:
- It is important to engage the management in the five whys process in the company. For the analysis itself, think what is the right working group and consider bringing in a facilitator for more difficult topics
- Use a whiteboard or paper instead of computers
- Please write down the problem and make sure that all people understand it
- Distinguish between causes and symptoms
- Focus on the logic of the cause-and-effect relationship
- Ensure that root causes certainly led to the mistake by reversing the sentences created due to the analysis using the expression “and therefore.”
- Attempt to make answers more accurate
- Search for cause step by step, don’t make hasty judgments
- Base the statements on facts and knowledge
- Evaluate the process, not people
- Never leave “human error,” “blame John,” “worker’s inattention,” etc. as the root cause
- Establish an atmosphere of trust and authenticity
- When you structure the answer to the question “Why?” it should be according to the customer’s perspective
Criticism of the 5 Whys
Many companies for training and engineering services successfully utilize the 5 Why technique for fundamental incidents or failures. By utilizing the right placement of triggers, organizations can use the 5 Why for its fundamental problem solving and then progress to form a Cause and Effect analysis for more complicated problems like the Apollo Root Cause Analysis method.
A disciplined problem-solving strategy should push teams to think outside the box, identifying root causes and solutions that will prevent the recurrence of the problem instead of just treating the symptoms. There are various reasons for this criticism of the 5 Whys method:
- The inclination for investigators to stop at symptoms rather than going on to lower-level root causes
- Inability to look beyond the investigator’s present knowledge – cannot think of any new causes
- Inadequate of support to assist the investigator in asking the right “why” questions
- Results are not repeatable – different individuals using 5 Whys come up with various causes for the same problem
- A tendency to isolate a solitary root cause, whereas each question could elicit many various root causes
- Considered a linear method of communication for what is often a non-linear event
Now, we’ll discuss the benefits and limitations of a 5 Whys analysis.
Benefits of 5 Whys Analysis
Following are some of the benefits of 5 whys analysis:
- Helps identify the root cause of a problem
- It is a very powerful tool that is easy to use
- Understand how one process can cause a chain of problems
- Allocates time to fix the problems
- Improves decision making
- Determine the relationship between different root causes
- Highly effective without complicated evaluation techniques
Limitation of the 5 Whys Technique
The 5 Whys method is an incredible technique for getting to the root cause of a problem in a rather short period. However, its speed and convenience of use sometimes can lead to uneven results when it comes to a repeating failure if the 5 Whys fail to deliver the true root cause. The following are a few of the limitations of 5 Whys:
- It doesn’t continuously lead to the identification of the root cause when the cause is unknown to team members
- Different people may get different answers about the cause of the same problem. This raises a question about the authenticity of the technique
- Confirmation bias – The tendency to interpret new data as confirmation of one’s own existing ideas or theories tends to be a driving factor for some team members during analysis
- The technique can only be as good as the people who use its expertise and experience
- You may not dive deep enough to reveal the root cause of the issue entirely
- Team members tend to depend on deductive logic instead of observation when recognizing factors leading to the root cause, which can produce needy results
Example of 5 Whys Analysis
Jeff Bezos Amazon Example of Application of 5 Whys:
Jeff Bezos illustrated how the Five Whys could be used. He had gone to one of the shop floors at Amazon. During his visit, he saw that one of the employees fingers were caught in the conveyor belt, and the employee had been injured. The following is a record of the meeting where Mr. Bezos described this incident.
Question 1: What caused the associate to damage his thumb?
Answer: Because his thumb got trapped in the conveyor belt.
Question 2: Why did his thumb get trapped in the conveyor?
Answer: Because he was chasing his bag, which was moving along a conveyor.
Question 3: Why was he chasing after his bag?
Answer: Because he put his bag on the conveyor, but it then turned on by surprise
Question 4: What was the purpose of his bag being on the conveyor?
Answer: Because he used the conveyor as a table
Conclusion of the Case
So, the logical root cause of the associate’s damaged thumb is that he needed a table. Unfortunately, there wasn’t one around, so he used a conveyor as a table. To eliminate further safety incidents, we need to provide tables at the appropriate stations or give portable, light tables for the associates to utilize, update, and focus on safety training. Also, look into preventative maintenance standard work.
Conclusion Regarding the Methodology in General
The 5 Whys act as a powerful tool and help sift through the symptoms, which represent surface-level problems to the root cause of the real problem. Solving this root cause solves all the issues in between.
Subjectivity Involved
The 5 Whys process is only semi-structured. Therefore, if different people do it, they may come to very different results. In addition, the process is only as good as the person running it. This makes it important to ensure that the team is cross-functional and involved in obtaining the best results for the process.
Conclusion
The 5 Whys technique is a problem-solving method that relies on asking “why?” five times in a continuous sequence to find the root cause. Each time you inquire why a problem occurred, your answer turns into the reason for your next question, compelling you to dig deeper and deeper into the true cause of the issue. This informed decision-making technique investigates the cause-and-effect relationships hidden behind a specific problem. Rather than coming up with a solution that could only address a certain symptom, the 5 Whys process focuses on countermeasures that aim to prevent the problem from ever occurring again.
To learn more about 5 why analysis and, more importantly, a company that functions as an effective system, individuals and enterprise teams should get trained in widely-recognized quality management certification courses. Invensis Learning offers some of the popular quality management courses that individuals and enterprise teams can take up are: Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification, RCA through Six Sigma Certification, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification, Lean Fundamentals Certification. Invensis Learning is one of the world’s leading and best professional certification training providers.
