Using the 5 whys to uncover root causes

The Tool: Sakichi Toyoda’s “5 Whys” 

The Purpose 

The founder of Toyota motor company famously called this tool the “basis of Toyota’s scientific process” and as a champion of evidence-based learning, if it’s good enough for the maker of my Rav4, it is good enough for me. 

Use Case

This is a simple way to bring needs assessment conversations from ‘high level’ to ‘very specific.’ 

As Learning and Development practitioners, we are often faced with the directive to “build a new training.” But in order to be true partners in our organizations, we have a duty to uncover the objectives of our work. 

Instructions for Use

I would not recommend simply showing up at a SME meeting and start asking “Why” five times immediately upon meeting your key stakeholders. It helps to first present the idea and cite the source, and then dive into the process.

Here’s an example, edited to maintain confidentiality, of how I have used this with a respected stakeholder in my organization. 

Key Stakeholder: “Hey, our sales team is really struggling. We need to give them a two-day online training on how to close a deal.”  

Me: “I want to dig a little deeper into this with you, so I’m going to use a technique that Toyota uses when they are uncovering needs in their organization. So why, in your opinion, are they struggling?” 

Key Stakeholder: “Well, I haven’t seen any movement on their leads in the database.” 

Me: “Interesting. Why do you think they are struggling to move the leads in the database?”

Key Stakeholder: “Well, I mean, they just do not know who to contact.” 

Me: “Why are they not finding the right contact information?” 

Key Stakeholder: “Well you know, it can be really confusing to identify key decision makers. They end up just putting out open calls to buy our product, and it isn’t working.” 

Me: “Interesting. Why are they not using a more targeted approach?”

Key Stakeholder: “Well, after the pandemic, a lot of the decision-makers we were connected to changed jobs. Most of the leads we had in 2020 have new roles, so our database is all sorts of messed up.” 

Me: “That is interesting. What I’m hearing is there might be a problem with the transfer of knowledge around how to use the database. Why is our sales team struggling with this?” 

Key Stakeholder: “We never really developed process documentation for maintaining the database. We used to just rely on an email chain, and now, with this new process, we cannot seem to keep things documented.”

In this short conversation, I was able to move from “everyone is struggling everywhere” to “these specific people need training on THIS specific thing: documenting and updating the lead database.” 

From there, I am able to work with stakeholders to dig into the system and come up with a simple job aid for database maintenance, rather than the much more expensive solution that was originally proposed. Sometimes, simpler is better. 

Pros 

The 5 Whys are a useful tool for uncovering the root cause. They help the stakeholders broaden their mindset to include new solutions, rather than blindly proposing the first thing that comes to mind. 

Cons

Every stakeholder is different, and some may be more resistant to proposals than others. You also may uncover root causes that cannot be addressed by training, such as lack of budget or misalignment of incentives. 

Takeaways

Use the 5 Whys to make sure the learning you are building is not the equivalent of a 4Runner, when what your organization really needs is a Prius.