Example
The following example demonstrates the basic process:
- The vehicle will not start. (the problem).
- Why? - The battery is dead. (first why)
- Why? - The alternator is not functioning. (second why)
- Why? - The alternator belt has broken. (third why)
- Why? - The alternator belt was well beyond its useful service life and not replaced. (fourth why)
- Why? - The vehicle was not maintained according to the recommended service schedule. (fifth why, a root cause)
- Why? - Replacement parts are not available because of the extreme age of the vehicle. (sixth why, optional footnote)
- Start maintaining the vehicle according to the recommended service schedule. (possible 5th Why solution)
- Purchase a different vehicle that is maintainable. (possible 6th Why solution)
The questioning for this example could be taken further to a sixth, seventh, or higher level: the "five" in 5 Whys is not gospel, but five iterations of asking why is generally sufficient to get to a root cause. The key is to encourage the trouble-shooter to avoid assumptions and logic traps and instead trace the chain of causality in direct increments from the effect through any layers of abstraction to a root cause that still has some connection to the original problem. Note that in this example the fifth why suggests a broken process or an alterable behaviour, which is typical of reaching the root-cause level.
It is interesting to note that the last answer points to a process. This is one of the most important aspects in the 5 Why approach - the real root cause should point toward a process that is not working well or does not exist. Untrained facilitators will often observe that answers seem to point towards classical answers such as not enough time, not enough investments, or not enough manpower. These answers may sometimes be true but in most cases they lead to answers out of our control. Therefore, instead of asking the question why?, ask why did the process fail?
A key phrase to keep in mind in any 5 Why exercise is "people do not fail, processes do".
Read more about this topic: 5 Whys
Famous quotes containing the word example:
“Our intellect is not the most subtle, the most powerful, the most appropriate, instrument for revealing the truth. It is life that, little by little, example by example, permits us to see that what is most important to our heart, or to our mind, is learned not by reasoning but through other agencies. Then it is that the intellect, observing their superiority, abdicates its control to them upon reasoned grounds and agrees to become their collaborator and lackey.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)