5 Whys

Ask yourself why recursively about a problem 5 times. This will lead you to root cause of the problem. It will take you down the cause and effect relationship till you reach a deep enough point.

Example

Problem: A project wasn't launched on time.

  1. Why wasn't the project launched on time? Because there was a missing piece.
  2. Why was there a missing piece? Because the team didn't know how to implement it.
  3. Why didn't the team know how to implement it? Because they didn't know how to.
  4. Why didn't they know how to? Because they were not properly trained.
  5. Why weren't they properly trained? Because no training is offered for this particular piece.
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