5 WHYS ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

I once heard from Mike Murdock that every problem can be dismantled with five questions, I thought it strange when I heard this statement but digging further into the research, I discovered the 5 whys root cause analysis, an amazing concept that I decided to share with business owners

Unpredicted problems occur in any team or process. However, problems are just symptoms of deeper issues. Fixing a problem quickly may be a convenient solution; however, it doesn’t protect your work process from recurring mistakes. This is why your team needs to focus on finding the root cause and tackling it properly. The good news is that there's a simple yet powerful tool that can help you get to the bottom of any problem: the Five Whys analysis process.

The 5 Whys method allows uncovering the root cause of a problem by simply asking "Why" five times. This interrogative technique is one of the most effective tools for root cause analysis in Lean management.

A Five Whys template provides a structured format for conducting the analysis. The template typically includes a series of questions or prompts to guide you through the process of identifying the underlying causes of the problem at hand. A basic Five Whys template might look something like this:

• What is the problem?
• Why did the problem occur?
• Why did the reason in question 2 happen?
• Why did the reason in question 3 happen?
• Why did the reason in question 4 happen?

The 5 Why’s analysis is widely used for troubleshooting and problem-solving. For instance, if a system or a process isn’t working correctly, a Five Whys analysis can be used to identify what’s causing the underlying problem. The tool enables teams to eliminate the root cause of a problem and prevent а process from recurring failures. Furthermore, 5 Why’s encourage each team member to share ideas helping to drive continuous improvement.

Here’s the process for conducting a successful 5 Whys analysis of your own:

• 1. Gather a team. Collect the team members who are knowledgeable about the process that is to be examined. An effective team will consist of people with varying perspectives on the issue. Once your team is assembled, appoint someone to the position of “5 Whys Master.” This person will be in charge of keeping the team focused , leading the discussion, and delegating responsibilities based on the countermeasures identified by the group.

• 2. Define the problem. Your team should talk about the issue and define it in a concise way using a problem statement. You want to make this statement as specific as possible because a statement that’s too broad could end up resulting in a time-consuming analysis that expands outside the confines of your problem’s root cause.

• 3. Ask “Why?” five times. Your team will decide on the first “why?” question to start with, and then the 5 Whys Master should lead the team in asking the sequence of questions. Make sure the answer to each question is based on factual data instead of disputable group opinions. Note that the number five is just a rule of thumb; you may need to ask more than five questions to identify the root cause of the problem. It’s also possible that you could need less than five questions to identify the right answer. The idea is that you should end this step once you’re no longer coming up with practical answers.

• 4. Take corrective action. Once you’ve identified the root cause of the problem, the entire team should discuss a list of corrective actions or countermeasures to take to prevent the problem from recurring. The 5 Whys Master should then delegate which team members should take responsibility for each item on the list.

• 5. Monitor and share your results. It’s 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 proper root cause and you should repeat the 5 Whys technique from the beginning. Lastly, record your findings and distribute them throughout your organization so that everyone can learn from this particular case study.

• Hope you found value.