The 5-Why Technique Masterclass: 3 Powerful reasons to use it well

Introduction

As a business owner or manager, it can be frustrating to experience failing business performance without a clear understanding of why it’s happening.

What is the 5-Why Technique?

The 5-Why technique was developed by Sakichi Toyoda, a Japanese inventor and founder of Toyota Industries. The technique was later popularized by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer at Toyota, as a key component of the company’s manufacturing process.

The technique involves asking a series of “why” questions to get to the underlying cause of an issue. By identifying the root cause of a problem, it is possible to develop effective solutions that solves the real cause of the problem and prevent the problem from recurring in the future. In addition, it identifies additional secondary problems that may also need attention.

The Power of the 5-Why Technique

By asking “why” multiple times, you can dig deeper into the underlying issues and identify potential solutions. Here are some of the benefits of using the 5-Why technique:

Improved Decision-Making:

By understanding the root cause of a problem, you can make more informed decisions about how to address it. This can lead to more effective solutions and better overall business performance.

More Effective Problem-Solving:

It helps you get to the heart of a problem, rather than just addressing the symptoms. This can lead to more effective problem-solving and long-term solutions, rather than short-term fixes.

Better Overall Business Performance:

By addressing the root causes of problems and making more informed decisions, you can improve your overall business performance. It drives increased productivity, better customer satisfaction, and improved financial results. It promotes a culture of continuous improvement within your business. By encouraging employees to ask “why” and dig deeper into problems, you can create a more proactive and solutions-focused environment.

Where can it be used?

It is a technique that can be used in various industries, from manufacturing to healthcare to finance, and it has proven to be particularly effective in the business world.

It can be used to address a variety of business problems, such as poor sales performance, high employee turnover, low customer satisfaction, and many others.

Example of the 5-Why Technique in Action

To better understand how the 5-Why technique works in practice, let’s take a look at two hypothetical examples where this technique was used and the solution recommended at the end of the process:

Example 1: Decline in customer satisfaction ratings

Imagine that a small retail store is experiencing a sudden decline in customer satisfaction ratings. The 5-Why technique can be used to understand the root cause as follows:

Question: Why are customer satisfaction ratings going down?

• Answer: Because customers are unhappy with the wait time when calling our customer service line.

Question: Why are customers experiencing longer wait times when calling our customer service line?

• Answer: Because we have reduced the number of customer service representatives.

Question: Why have we reduced the number of customer service representatives?

• Answer: Because we have had to cut costs due to a decrease in sales.

Question: Why have sales decreased?

• Answer: Because we have not been effectively marketing our products.

Question: Why have we not been effectively marketing our products?

• Answer: Because we have not conducted market research to understand our customers’ needs and preferences.

Solution:

Conduct market research to better understand customers’ needs and preferences and allocate resources to improve marketing efforts.

In this example the identified root cause has nothing to do with the skill and capability of the customer service team or quality of the product. It was something that may not have been considered at all that initiated a chain of events which manifested in poor reviews. Without this process the business would have spent time trying to fix the wrong problems.

Example 2: Customer leaving their online carts and not proceeding to check-out

Imagine an online store getting good engagement from its marketing efforts and lots of traffic through the store, but failing to convert the interest to sales. Let’s apply the 5-Why technique:

Question: Why are online carts being abandoned?

• Answer: Customers are not completing the checkout process.

Question: Why are customers not completing the checkout process?

• Answer: They are required to create an account to complete the purchase.

Question: Why are customers required to create an account?

• Answer: The website’s checkout process requires users to create an account to complete a purchase.

Question: Why was this requirement added to the checkout process?

• Answer: The business wanted to collect customer data for future marketing efforts.

Question: Why was collecting customer data considered more important than completing purchases?

• Answer: The marketing team believed that collecting customer data would provide more long-term value than short-term sales.

Solution:

Urgently review the need for a customer to first create an account and then continue with the check-out process and apply necessary changes to process.

Step-by-Step Guide to Using the 5-Why Technique

Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can use this technique to help uncover the root cause of business problems:

Define the problem:

Start by defining the problem you want to address. Be specific and concise about the problem you are trying to solve. Whilst defining the problem you may realise there are more related problems that you want to address. List them as well.

Ask why:

Ask why the problem is occurring. This will help you get to the root cause of the problem. Write down the answer.

Ask why again:

Take the answer from the first question and ask why again. This will help you get deeper into the cause of the problem. Write down the answer.

Repeat:

Keep asking why until you get to the root cause of the problem. It may take five or more rounds of asking why to get to the root cause.

Identify a solution:

Once you have identified the root cause of the problem, you can start to develop a solution that addresses the cause, not just the symptoms.

Test the solution:

Implement the solution and monitor the results. If the solution does not work, go back to step 4 and repeat the process.

Review and learn:

After implementing the solution, review the results and see what you can learn. This will help you identify any further improvements that can be made.

Also consider these points:

1. Business problems are rarely one dimensional and it is a combination of factors that contribute to issues. In reality the 5-Why technique does not follow a clean, logical line like we used in the examples. To use this effectively you must consider each possible answer to the question asked and then explore each question deeper. You can use a reverse-decision tree method to start with the 1^st question at the top and then add each potential answer as a diverging branch, then treat every answer again as a node. Our experience with this technique shows that many of the divergent paths end up with the same core problem.
2. Don’t only use the technique for the “big” business problems. Anyone at any level of the business can use it to solve any level of problem. Consider training your team on effectively using this technique for all kinds of problems.
3. Do not only focus on the core problem identified. Often these are big issues and require lots of focus and effort to change. Sometimes starting with the smaller problems identified along the way may yield quick results for smaller pain points.
4. This technique is especially powerful when trying to understand customer behaviour. It is easy to jump to a conclusion because it fits our view or version of things. But going down the Why-hole can often bring some surprising and very useful results.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the 5-Why technique is a powerful tool that can help business owners and managers to better understand and address failing business performance. By asking “why” multiple times, it can reveal the root cause of a problem and help identify potential solutions

By incorporating the 5-Why technique into your problem-solving process – across all levels of the business – you can gain a deeper understanding of business problems and make more informed decisions. As a result, your business will be better positioned to achieve its goals and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace.