Why Brainstorming Is Crucial Before 5 Whys:

Identification of root cause is most important aspect of any problem. But, biased approach based on experience, leadership or disinterest can lead to a wrong conclusion and organization can keep facing issue even after solving the problem.

Here comes crucial role of brainstorming.

1. Generates Multiple Perspectives: Bringing together cross-functional teams allows for a broader understanding of the problem. Different team members (operators, engineers, quality specialists) may see different aspects of the issue, which ensures that the analysis doesn’t overlook key factors.
2. Avoids Bias: Without brainstorming, teams may dive into the 5 Whys with pre-existing assumptions about what the root cause is. Brainstorming encourages an open-minded approach, preventing bias or premature conclusions.
3. Encourages Creativity: Brainstorming promotes free thinking, allowing the team to explore less obvious causes. This could lead to discovering hidden process inefficiencies or areas of improvement that otherwise might have been missed.
4. Provides a Holistic View of the Problem: By brainstorming, the team can map out various possible causes—technical, operational, human factors, and external influences. This way, when moving into the 5 Whys, there’s already a rich set of possible issues to explore, leading to more targeted and insightful questioning.

How to Conduct Effective Brainstorming for RCA:

• Involve Key Stakeholders: Include people from different departments or functions that might be connected to the problem (production, quality, maintenance, supply chain).
• Create a Safe Space: Encourage open discussion and ensure that all ideas are heard. Sometimes the most unlikely cause can lead to the real root of the problem.
• Use Visual Aids: Use tools like fishbone diagrams (Ishikawa diagrams) to help categorize potential causes. This is an excellent way to structure brainstorming discussions and identify broader areas (e.g., People, Machine, Materials, Methods) that could be causing the issue.
• Categorize Ideas: As the team brainstorms potential causes, it can help to categorize them into primary areas (e.g., human error, equipment malfunction, process failures) to see patterns or connections.

Example: Brainstorming Leading to 5 Whys

Let’s say a factory is facing frequent machine breakdowns in their assembly line, causing production delays.

Brainstorming Session

The team gathers and begins to brainstorm possible reasons for the machine breakdown:

During Brain Storming for better clarity in thought brainstorming can be divided in 6 categories. So, we do not miss out any important aspect of problem. This is called 6M

• Man: People, or manpower, who are involved in the design and delivery of a product?
• Machine: The machinery used in a process?
• Method: The methods used in a process?
• Material: The materials used in a process?
• Measurement: The measurement used in a process?
• Mother Nature: The environment, or milieu, in which the process takes place

Next Step is to identify possible problems through brainstorming

• Poor maintenance schedules
• Operator errors
• Faulty machine parts
• Overuse of machines beyond capacity
• Power supply fluctuations
• Inefficient cooling system for machines

By generating these possible causes, the team now has a set of factors they can explore. From here, they can dive deeper using the 5 Whys to investigate the most likely root causes, rather than assuming it’s just a simple operator error or equipment malfunction.

Moving to 5 Whys (Post-Brainstorm)

Based on brainstorming, they select one of the most frequent issues—poor maintenance—and apply the 5 Whys to dig deeper:

1.Why is the machine breaking down?

Answer: The cooling system is failing

2.Why is the cooling system failing?

Answer: It hasn’t been serviced regularly.

3.Why hasn’t it been serviced regularly?

Answer: Maintenance schedules were not updated in the system.

4.Why were the schedules not updated?

Answer: The maintenance team wasn’t trained on the new scheduling software.

5.Why wasn’t the maintenance team trained?

Answer: The training program was overlooked during the software rollout.

Here, the root cause wasn’t the cooling system itself, but a gap in training and communication between departments. This discovery might not have been made without the brainstorming session that identified multiple potential causes at the outset.

Conclusion:

Brainstorming before using the 5 Whys creates a stronger foundation for Root Cause Analysis. It helps teams avoid premature conclusions, promotes creativity, and leads to a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the problem. With a wide set of potential causes identified through brainstorming, the 5 Whys becomes more effective, leading to solutions that address the true root cause.