APPLYING FIVE WHY
TECHNIQUE FOR ROOT
CAUSE ANALYSIS
An Academic presentation by
Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head, Technical Operations, Tutors India
Group www.tutorsindia.com
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Today's Discussion
OUTLINE
Introduction
The Origins of Five Whys
Applying the Five Whys
Form a Team
Define the Problem
Ask Why
Take Action
Conclusion
02
INTRODUCTION
Any organization or process or team can be confronted with
unanticipated challenges.
Nonetheless, the challenges might just a symptom to an
underlying issue.
Prompt resolution of the challenge could prove to be the most
feasible solution, but there is no guarantee that it might
safeguard the organization or team or process from being
confronted with recurring errors.
Considering the scenario, it is important for the organization or the team in question to
identify the root cause and tackle it in an appropriate manner.
While there are several tools that can help an organization to conduct a root cause
analysis, the ‘Five Whys’ technique is considered as one of the most effective tools in
the repertoire of lean management.
Teams are known to come face-to-face with roadblocks during their day-to-day work.
Nonetheless, the use of five whys will enable the team to identify the root cause of any
problem and thereby safeguard the process from such problems occurring in future,
which might result in failure .
This blog aims to acclimatize you with the Five Whys technique for root cause analysis
and inform you about how it can be effectively utilized to understand why a particular
problem keeps occurring within your process.
But first, it is important to trace the history of the Five Whys.
THE ORIGINS OF FIVE WHYS
Sakichi Toyoda was the person who has been attributed with
developing the Five Whys.
The idea behind developing the Five Whys was to spot the root
cause to some problems that were being encountered at the
manufacturing unit at Toyota.
Over the years, the Five Why technique has been widely
accepted and adapted by social scientists as well as educators
to facilitate them to develop problem definitions and pertinent
interventions .
The application of Five whys is quite simple wherein it comprises of converting a
problem into a ‘why’ question.
Five answers are brainstormed by participants on the basis of their experience and
knowledge.
Out of all the suggestions, the answer that is most feasible is chosen and converted
into yet another ‘why’ question.
This cycle is repeated five times.
Participants are motivated to hypothesize and theorize on the problems in such a
manner that it avoids assumptions that are unsubstantiated, sustaining relation to their
lived experiences.
Therefore, using the five whys technique requires careful facilitation on the part of
individuals who are skilled in the practice of critical questioning and reflection and those
who are well-versed in developing contexts which people are comfortable sharing
APPLYING THE
FIVE WHYS
At the time of applying the five whys technique, you might want to
reach the essence of the problem and then try to find a solution.
Sometimes, the five whys would reveal an unexpected source to
the problem.
More often than not, issues that are deemed as problems which
would be technical nature would eventually reveal themselves to be
process or human problems.
That makes it necessary to apply the five whys to find and eliminate the root cause
to restrict the scope for the same problem from recurring .
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Source: Serrat
From the above example (Figure 1) the root cause for running through the red light
turned out to be a simple overlooking of a task which could be attributed to a
human error.
But, this problem has scope to repeat itself if remedial steps are not initiated. To
conduct a root cause analysis using Five whys you need to:
F I G U R E 1: F I V E W H Y S I N A C T I O N
06
FORM A TEAM
Make a team comprising of an individual each from the
department that is being impacted by a recurrent
problem.
Or in case of an individual, seek the help of family
members or friends to form a core team. In either case,
all the individuals within the team should be aware of the
problem that is going to be investigated.
Team formation will allow you to arrive at an informed
decision
DEFINE THE PROBLEM
At the outset, you should deliberate the problem with your team
members and construct a clear problem statement.
It would be helpful in outlining the scope of the problem that will be
investigated.
This is significant as exploring a problem with a wider scope might be
process which is time-consuming and the boundaries too might be
blurred.
Remaining focused throughout would help you to reach an effective
solution
ASK WHY
One person from the team should be empowered to be able to facilitate the entire
procedure.
The questions will be asked by the team leader and he or she wouldalso attempt to
ensure that the team remains focused throughout.
Care should be taken to ensure that the answers to each why is based on real data and
actual facts rather than getting carried away by emotions
TAKE
ACTIONTAKE
ACTION
Once the root cause has been identified by the team,
they should then focus on initiating corrective measures.
Each member should participate in a discussion to seek
and apply the most appropriate solution that will
safeguard the process from the same problem recurring
again.
Following a specific period of time, the team should meet
again to understand whether the solution they found
made a positive impact.
In case it is not making a positive impact, it would be
necessary to repeat the process.
CONCLUSION
The Five Whys has been proven to be a very robust and
potent organizational technique to identify root cause.
Using five whys can add agility to your team and also
presents your organization with the grounds to promptly
respond to problems as it might emerge, without the
need for any over-engineering or overinvesting.
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