Understand Yourself Better Using The 5-Whys Root Cause Analysis

For everything we face today, there is a root cause behind it. Understanding the root cause is crucial toward resolving negative issues affecting our lives. Once the root has been removed, the effects will be addressed accordingly. This will also,in turn, help in understanding ourselves better.

One way to do it is by using the 5-Whys Root Cause Analysis.

Background

The 5 Whys Method originated from the Toyota Production System where it was developed by Sakichi Toyoda. This method became an important part of the Lean philosophy in project or work management.

The basis of the 5-Whys is simple. The approach is to ask why five times to a problem. By asking “why” repeatedly, the nature of the problem as well as its solution will become clear.

Today, the method is used far beyond Toyota, and it’s particularly popular in the world of lean development. Eric Ries, the author of The Lean Startup, has wrote about using this method as one of the Lean Startup techniques.

5-Whys As A Self-Improvement Tool

Personally, I mainly use this method in my work which is largely project management. When I practice the 5-Whys, issues that are considered as a technical problem actually turn out to be human and process problems.

I find it very useful as it helps me to inspect a problem in depth until it shows you the real cause.

Therefore, what if people applied the 5-Whys to themselves? We make decisions everyday but the reason for most of our decisions are superficial.

For example, “I want to work in the XYZ industry” why? Because I have a XYZ degree. Why? Because I like to do something related to XYZ. Why? Because by doing so I get to gain/build me. Why? Because I have a passion for something. Why? Because by doing XYZ, it fulfills me and makes me happy.

After you detect the root cause(s), it is time to take corrective actions. Find and apply the best solutions to protect your process from recurring problems. This questioning process will also help to give you useful insights to your everyday decisions and to find out what the actual driving factor is.

Take Action

The 5-Whys technique is a simple and effective tool for solving problems. Its primary goal is to find the exact reason that causes a given problem by asking a sequence of “Why” questions.

By applying it in your everyday decisions, this technique can help you to understand yourself better and to find out what are the tweaks, if any, you can make to your life to edge closer to your goals.

Cheers