Understanding problems more effectively with the 5 whys technique
At the end of the day, any product or service exists to solve people’s problems (or so they should), and problems are things our world is in no shortage of. Finding the right one though is a task a lot trickier than it seems.
In this article you will go through:
- When to use it;
- The pros and cons;
- A practical guide on how to run it;
- And some hot tips at the end;
I will be focusing on the information gathering part of the technique and will skip talking about history and why the “5 whys technique” takes its name, but you can check this great article if you are feeling curious.
To better understand problems we need also to understand its surrounding context. Beneath them lurks the root cause and their effects, cascading into an intricate matrix of Problems x Needs / Goals. Navigating through it with nothing but our will can be quite complicated. That’s where our friend, the 5 whys technique, comes into play acting as a compass helping us navigate this tangly net, giving us a chance to grab these naughty trouble makers and work them out. So if you want to fix problems, dig into the motivations of people you design for and innovate or enhance solutions, this technique may come in real handy.
The scene of the technique
The 5 whys technique usually doesn’t go by itself. It is normally used along other methodologies in structured conversations. An example of structured conversation are user interviews, and among other goals, you can use them to purposefully learn more about situations or people that use your product. To do that, or any investigation for that matter, you will need at least some preparation (often a lot. More about it here). Bear in mind that starting an investigation without at least a goal, a clear notion of the scope and the context may get you lost chasing cars and tails.
Not the ultimate problem-solving tool, but a great place to start
Before moving on there’s something you need to know. This technique is great. It gives you clarity over failures, helps you uncover people’s desires, may tap into fundamental motivations, can expand your mind revealing issues you were completely unaware of and will take you deeper than any quantitative method ever could…
… you can feel the but coming can’t ya?
However, I wouldn’t place all my bets on this technique alone if my goal is fixing a critical problem or mitigating the risks of releasing a new product or feature. Although it is a technique that excels at investigations, it lacks the rigor to objectively determine the cause-and-effect relationship underlying an issue. To increase the confidence in a solution it is wise to also rely on other more structured approaches and methods. More about them here. With that out of the way, let’s move on.
Putting it into practice
A) First of all, chill on the 5s
The 5 whys are just a rule of thumb you can break if you need to, so don’t stress too much about it. It is a useful “rule” though, specially if you are starting off and haven’t yet developed the feel for finding the right level of abstraction.
B) Ask whys with context
“Uh, this is called “5 whys technique”, I think it’s pretty straightforward…”
The name of this technique is somewhat deceiving, it may give the impression that you will simply ask “whys” and get the answers you want. But you won’t.
Check out this example: You are investigating a critical system crash that happened at the startup you work at.
1.Q: George, why did the system crash? A: Because a critical portion of the code was mistakenly deleted and merged with the main code on production.
2. Q: Hmm… why? A: Why was it merged?
3. Q: Yes. Why? A: Well, because it was a mistake, it should’ve been spotted on code review.
4. Q: Why? A: Because code review is a step created to avoid exactly this situation.
5. Q: Why? A: … I’m not sure if I follow…I guess it’d be pretty obvious by now?
You can’t just go out loosely throwing whys at people’s faces without connecting the questions to a specific event they described.
If you aimlessly ask whys, whoever is answering will feel confused, you may sound disjointed (possibly a bit psycho) and it probably won’t turn out to be very effective.
C) Prioritize what you want to investigate
Have a look at this other totally fictional example:
1. Q: Hey Mark, the weirdest thing happened. I was getting back home and Ms Delfina cursed at me as I walked by. I wonder why she cursed at me? A: Because she’s really upset.
2. Q: Why is Ms Delfina upset?? A: Because last night’s party went till 7am.
3. Q: Wow, that’s wild! Why did the party go on for so long? A: Because everyone was having a really good time.
4. Q: I can tell. Why was everyone having such a good time? A: Because people were craving real-life social interaction.
5. Q: Why were people craving real-life social interaction so much though? A: Because they’ve been in lockdown for the past 7 months.
This one went down pretty well…The interviewer followed-up connecting questions to specific events described and arrived at an apparently satisfactory root-cause.
But in real life answers will almost never be this clear and straightforward. In reality it would be more like this:
1. Q: Hey Mark, the weirdest thing happened. I was getting back home and Ms Delfina cursed at me as I walked by. I wonder why she cursed at me? A: Oh man… she must be MAD! Because lockdown finally ended we invited Chloe over, she brought her housemates, Chris showed up with his friends and his DJ mate, next thing I know we had like 30 people over and by 7am police started banging on the door! It was mental! Oh and Patrick passed out on the dog’s bed.
People often give a lot more information than needed and can open multiple possible threads for you to follow upon. The hardest part is clearing all the noise as you go and choosing which thread of events will be further investigated. Conversations don’t usually flow linearly and events also hardly happen in linear ways.
D) Document all you can
Ultimately, this whole fuss is about improving or creating something while reducing the risks of failure. To do so we need to increase confidence in what is being proposed. As the answers and the process are documented you will have something solid to show and analyse. Or, you can always trust your gut and ask your stakeholders to just take your word for it…
E) Put your detective hat on
As mentioned before, this is an excellent tool for investigation and the nature of exploration is one of multiple trials. You probably won’t find all the answers at first, more likely you will find great leads to be further examined. Keeping this in mind will help preventing you from settling for low level root causes.
And lastly, some hot tips
Be genuinely curious
Give in to your inquisitive inner child, be genuinely curious about the conversation and the scope you are researching. This is the very essence of investigation and can take you further than just following steps would.
Be mindfully present
Trying to frame a root cause in real life conversations can be pretty knotty since they almost never course a linear flow. In order to effectively navigate through the layers of problems and causes, you will need to be present and attentive to what the person is saying. This will help you cut the noise and follow the important threads.
Rehearse
If you have never done this before, chances are that you won’t get it right at your first attempt. When the time comes, you will have to think on your feet and decide which trail to follow. Don’t worry though, it’s not like you are a doctor with a critical patient on your hands, you have room to make mistakes, but practising beforehand with someone you know, helps a lot.
Know when to stop
You don’t have to ask why five times, you may hit the spot asking it more or less times. It is worth pointing that falling short may not give you enough understanding and exceeding may wear off your interviewee’s time and patience. Watch out for answers, if they stop being practical it might indicate that you’ve gone fair enough.
I hope you found this article useful, thanks for reading!
In the next article I tackle the intricate matrix of Problems x Needs / Goals (God help me), talk about the shifty nature of problems and how to frame them real good to assist you during the problem-solving journey.
On the mean time, feel free to share any experiences you had with the 5 whys technique and shoot me questions or feedbacks. I’m all ears!
