History of the 5 Whys Technique
The 5 Whys technique was first introduced by Sakichi Toyoda who is the founder of Toyota Industries back in 1970.
Till today, this method is still widely use to solve problems. This method uses a counter-measure approach rather than a solution approach. A counter-measure is a set of actions that aims to prevent the problem from re-surfacing again.
When to use the 5 Whys Technique
There are many ways to use the 5 Whys technique. As mentioned above, it is used for:
- Troubleshooting/diagnosing, quality improvement, and problem-solving
- Simple and moderately challenging problems
- Quick understanding of the root cause of the problem
How to use the 5 Whys Technique
Here are the steps for how you can use this tool/technique.
- Identify the issue that you are facing.
- Ask yourself why this is happening
- Ask yourself again four times why this is happening.
Based on identifying the Whys, I can come up with 2 possible solutions to prevent the main issue from happening.
Conclusion
Based on the example above, you can see how the 5 whys can be used to troubleshoot and identify the problem and come up with 2 possible solutions to solve the problem.
This is also why the 5 Whys technique is used more for a counter-measures rather than a solution approach.