Prepared by: Sambhujyoti Das,

Quality Assurance

5 WHY

Asking “Why?” may be a favourite technique of your three year old child in driving you crazy, but it could lead to the root cause of a headache (The problem).

2

Principle:• 5 Whys is an iterative question-

asking technique;• Explore the cause-and-

effect relationships underlying a particular problem;

• logical flow as one digs deeper into finding the root cause(s);

The answer to each question then forms the basis of the next question.

3

An example:……(1)

You are on your way to attained a marriage party of your dear ones and your wheeler stops in the middle of the road.•1. Why did your vehicle stop?– Because it ran out of patrol.•2. Why did it run out of patrol?– Because I didn’t buy any patrol on my way to work.

4

An example:………(1) continued• 3. Why didn’t you buy any patrol this

morning?– Because I didn’t have any money.

• 4. Why didn’t you have any money?– Because its month end and I exhausted my salary.

• 5. Why did you exhausted my salary?– Because the patrol price has increased 3rd time within a month.

5

An example:……(2)

Different product mono-cartons in a clinic carton (Packaging Mixup). (the problem).1.Why ? Clinic carton of different product. (first why);2.Why ? Carton mixup during packaging. (second why);3.Why ? Incorrect product details on clinic carton. (third why);

6

An example:……(2) continued4. Why ? Misprinting from

supplier. (fourth why);5. Why ? Line-clearance procedure

was not followed during plate cutting. (fifth why, a root cause).

Fifth why suggests a broken process or an alterable behaviour.

7

Thumb rule:

• Five iterations of asking why is generally sufficient to get to a root.

• The questioning for this example could be taken further to a sixth, seventh, or higher level.

8

Benefits:

• Encourage the trouble-shooter to avoid assumptions and logic traps.

• 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.

9

Mind it:

• Last answer points to a process.• 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 be true, but they are out of our control.

10

Techniques:

There are two primary techniques used to perform 5 Whys:

•Fishbone (Ishikawa) and•Tabular Form.

Fishbone diagram may be helpful to identify the exact answer of each question.

11

Tabular From - Worksheet:

12

13