Root Cause Analysis (Five Whys)

Step 1: Identify the Problem

Start by defining the problem.

Whenever you face any issue, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself a simple question: “What is the problem?”

Write the problem down. Suppose Matt feels overwhelmed while working and studying. He starts with:

“What is the problem?”

His answer might be:

“I have so much to do and very little time. I feel hurried and stressed.”

Now that you have stated the problem clearly, where do you go from here? Do you create solutions right away? Creating solutions immediately is what most people do, and unfortunately, this approach is usually inefficient. Attempting to solve problems without having enough information leads to partial solutions that do not solve the problem completely.

Solving problems is like treating a sickness. If a doctor only treats the symptoms of an illness like malaria, the fever may go away, but the illness persists. The same applies to problems: you have to diagnose and treat the root of the problem.

Getting to the root of a problem involves probing and digging deeper into the underlying issue. To help you do this, the nature of the question changes from that of “What” to that of “Why?”

Asking yourself “why” questions and answering them as clearly as possible will bring the underlying issues to the surface. These underlying issues are the primary target and the very things you need to solve in order to overcome a problem situation.

Once you have answers to the ‘what’ question, you continue the self-querying by typing/writing the following questions:

“Why is this a problem for me?”

“Why do I feel hurried and stressed?”

“Why do I have very little time?”

Once you think through these questions, you may develop answers such as:

“Because I have to balance work and study.”

“Because I have no plan.”

“Because the material looks like too much to cover so rapidly in very little time.”

As you can see, why-related questions help bring the underlying issues to the forefront. If you decide to start coming up with potential solutions at this point, your solutions will not be premature. Nevertheless, prodding a bit more could serve you well.

Prodding further involves asking more “why” questions. The idea is to keep questioning the answers you uncover until you arrive at the root cause of the problem. This is a form of root cause analysis. The answers suggest explanations to investigate; the technique does not by itself establish that they are the causes.

If we continue using our example, we would continue asking questions:

“Why do I have to balance work and study?”

The answer to this would probably be:

“Because the business world is moving fast, and my knowledge can easily become obsolete.”

The answer to the question,

Why don’t I have any plan in place?

Could be:

“Because I haven’t sat down to create one.”

Asking,

“Why does the material look like too much?”

Might yield:

“Because I have not set priorities on what to study first.”

Use the answers to identify possible changes, then check whether those changes address the problem. A plausible answer may need evidence or another line of questioning.