BACK TO BASICS
The Art of Root Cause Analysis
Five whys analysis to ask the right questions at the right time
ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS reminds me
of the intriguing mind of a child: Both use
common questions that start with “what,”
“how” or “why” in an attempt to understand
something and uncover answers.
Children often satisfy their curiosity as they
ask questions to better understand their en-
vironment. You could say that they’re already
unknowingly using a simple, yet essential
quality tool—five whys analysis—to clarify
their own questions and get to the truth.
If five whys analysis is used in science to
achieve a clear objective, the tool can be just
as powerful in the business world as it is for
children exploring their own surroundings.
As a practicing Master Back Belt, I often use
this technique to successfully arrive at the
root causes of problems.
What’s five whys analysis?
Five whys analysis is the art of systemati-
cally drilling down to a real root cause (see
Figure 1). It’s a simple, yet effective way
to determine the root causes in almost any
situation. Essentially, you can find the root
cause of a problem and show the relation-
ship of causes by repeatedly asking the
question, “Why?”
Does this remind you of the lean tool
TRIZ, or the theory of inventive prob-
lem solving? It should, because they can
complement each other well.
Online Figure 1, found on this article’s
webpage at www.qualityprogress.com,
shows a simple example of five whys
analysis of “Getting caught speeding on the
road.” This particular example captures just
one answer for every why question asked.
Typically, you would have more than one
answer for every why question, and each
one could be subjected to another why
question.
64 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
BY VIDYASAGAR A
Applying five
whys analysis
Five whys analysis
You could say five whys
analysis is the art of ask-
ing the right question
at the right time. In On-
line Figure 1, it’s impor-
tant not to skip levels
4th why?
of questions or hurry
through them to reach 5th why?
a perceived root cause.
You must approach this
analysis step by step
with logical questions summarizing the ob-
servations from earlier questions.
Don’t get too caught up with asking five
questions. Sometimes, it may take just three
why questions to reach the root cause. Other
times, it might take many more. Once, I had
to ask 14 whys to reach a root cause. As you
master the art of questioning, you will arrive
at the root cause much more quickly.
Things to remember
It’s important not to leave any loose ends.
Each loose end must be tied up with a fresh
why question, or it should become part of
another question being asked.
Another critical point in this analysis is
knowing when to stop asking why. Some
experienced practitioners say that you
have reached the true root cause when the
answer to your why question is a process,
policy or a person. Often, these answers
turn out to be the real root causes.
Knowing when to stop mostly depends
on three questions:
1. How relevant are the questions and
answers to the original X or Y you are
investigating?
2. Did you find a root cause that helps you
control or avoid the situation?
/ FIGURE 1
1st why?
2nd why?
3rd why?
3. Are the questions and answers significant
enough, considering your project scope?
The real problem
When and where to stop questioning why
is the most important part of this ap-
proach: Do not stop unless you reach a
process, policy or a person that seems to
be a root cause. Often, there can be many
root causes with a compounding impact
placed at different stages of the five whys
drill-down.
It is also important to recognize that the
real problem in a Six Sigma project is not
that we don’t know the solutions. The real
problem is that we don’t know real root
causes.
Often, some X’s might not have further
data to further drill down using Six Sigma
tools. Hence, using five whys analysis is
almost essential in Six Sigma implementa-
tion. Correctly using this technique can be a
big differentiator for the project. QP
VIDYASAGAR A is the corporate master
coach at Genpact in Hyderabad, India.
He holds a master’s degree in man-
agement from the Indian Institute of
Management.