Five Whys

the words "why? why? why? why? why?"

The Five Whys is an easy question asking option that examines the cause-and-effect relationships that underly problems.

"When looking to solve a problem, it helps to begin at the end result, reflect on what caused that, and question the answer five times.

This elementary and often effective approach to problem solving promotes deep thinking through questioning, and can be adapted quickly and applied to most problems."

Source: Serrat(2009), p1

Advice for using this method

"The Five Whys technique has been criticized as too basic a tool to analyze root causes to the depth required to ensure that the causes are fixed. The reasons for this criticism include:

  • The tendency of investigators to stop at symptoms, and not proceed to lower-level root causes.
  • The inability of investigators to cast their minds beyond current information and knowledge.
  • Lack of facilitation and support to help investigators ask the right questions. 
  • The low repeat rate of results: different teams using the Five Whys technique have been known to come up with different causes for the same problem."

Source: Serrat (2009), p3

Resources

  • The Five Whys Technique

    This paper from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) outlines the process of using the Five Whys technique as an effective approach to problem solving.

  • The Cause and Effect (a.k.a. Fishbone) Diagram

    This short document demonstrates an option for mapping out a series of questions to help you get to the root cause of a problem or effect.

Serrat, O. (2009), The Five Whys Technique, Knowledge Solutions, Asia Development Bank. Retrieved from http://www.adb.org/publications/five-whys-technique

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