Pssst...Hey Husker! Is This Why You Ask Why?

Determine The Root Cause: 5 Whys


It appears that a new member has appeared over at the ontheborderline.net blog site. Going by the name Husker, it appears this OTBL blogger doesn't understand the rules of the game over there. He or she has been called on the dog-stained carpet by the admin (who we'll call Shelia) for asking too many "why questions." Evidently, ol' Husker didn't read the fine print about not questioning the questioners.

If Husker had paid attention to our site, he/she would have known that part of our mission is to point out the abundance of hypocrisy smeared on the stalls of that urinal of negativity and redneck ignorance known as OTBL. So Husker has helped add a couple more streaks of du du and provided us with more evidence of why we are here. Since it appears that most of the main "brains" at the OTBL site let their wives bring home the heavy bread, they would not be familiar with common concepts that are discussed on the shopfloors of factories throughout the world. They may have never heard of Six Sigma or lean manufacturing or Just In Time production. Coincidently, the admin's comment about a 5-year old is quite insightful, when you consider what follows. Once again, we have proof that even a blind squirrel finds a nut.

Many businesses today use root cause analysis to better understand and improve their processes. The 5 Why's are part of the tool kit. Here's more information from the Six Sigma website:
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Asking "Why?" may be a favorite technique of your three year old child in driving you crazy, but it could teach you a valuable Six Sigma quality lesson. The 5 Whys is a technique used in the Analyze phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology. It's a great Six Sigma tool that doesn't involve data segmentation, hypothesis testing, regression or other advanced statistical tools, and in many cases can be completed without a data collection plan.

By repeatedly asking the question "Why" (five is a good rule of thumb), you can peel away the layers of symptoms which can lead to the root cause of a problem. Very often the ostensible reason for a problem will lead you to another question. Although this technique is called "5 Whys," you may find that you will need to ask the question fewer or more times than five before you find the issue related to a problem.

Benefits Of The 5 Whys

Help identify the root cause of a problem.
Determine the relationship between different root causes of a problem.
One of the simplest tools; easy to complete without statistical analysis.

When Is 5 Whys Most Useful?

When problems involve human factors or interactions.
In day-to-day business life; can be used within or without a Six Sigma project.
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So Husker you are to be commended for your insightful probe into the minds of your fellow OTBL poster children. It's pretty obvious that the OBTL admin doesn't want to get through all your 5 whys. Why, I'm not sure. My guess is talk is cheap over there and, once you get past the cut-n-pasted words of dead, discredited econokooks like Ludwig von Mises, pop-philosophers like Ayn Rand and hypocritical, slave-owning patriots like George Mason, the chamber pot of ideas has been licked clean. Good luck on your adventure Husker!

Read more on Six Sigma and the 5 Why's.