Recurring problems are often symptoms of deeper issues. Five Whys Analysis is a problem solving tool to help you move past symptoms and identify the true root cause(s) of a problem.

1. PRESENTS

2. The Five Whys
Analysis
How to Apply…

3. Have you ever experienced
a problem that refused to go away,
and you thought you fixed?
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4. Sooner or later it returned, maybe in a
different form.
How annoying!
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5. Recurring problems are often
symptoms of deeper issues
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6. "Quick fixes” seem convenient,
but only solve surface issues
and waste resources
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7. Five Whys Analysis is a problem solving
tool to move past symptoms and identify
the true root cause(s) of a problem
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8. Let’s do one together…
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9. Our client rejected 300 transactions
because they were submitted
for payment outside the 60-day
agreed-upon window
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10. We want to find out why, to prevent this
from happening in the future
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11. The obvious cause seems to be submitting
the invoices too late
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12. But is this the true root cause
of our problem?
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13. Let’s find out using the Five Whys
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14. STEP 1:
Let’s define the problem
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15. Problem:
Our client refused to pay 300 transactions
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16. STEP 2:
Let’s ask the first why.
Why is the problem occurring?
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17. The transactions were submitted late
Why?
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18. STEP 3:
Let’s ask why four more times and
record the answers
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19. The transactions had to be researched
Why?
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20. They were kicked out by the billing system
Why?
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21. They were flagged as exceptions
Why?
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22. The transactions were missing information
in the source system
Why?
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23. We have uncovered
the root cause of
our problem
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24. STEP 4:
Now let’s identify counter-measures to
prevent the problem from reoccurring
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25. Counter-Measure:
Ensure that all the transactions have the required
information in the source system
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26. We must make those fields mandatory in
the source system.
This way the agents will collect all the
info required by the client.
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27. ©2019 LEAD FROM ANY SEAT

28. Since we addressed the root cause, it’s
unlikely the problem will reoccur
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29. What if we stopped after
the second why?
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30. We would have probably concluded that
the client didn’t pay the 300 transactions
because the research took a long time and
this delayed the submission of the invoice
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31. So, naturally, we would’ve had to speed
up the process and perhaps
allocate more resources
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32. And the problem would have kept coming
back because the agents still didn’t
capture all the required info
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33. Do we need to ask “why”
exactly five times?
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34. No.
The five in Five Whys is just
a “rule of thumb”.
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35. How do we know when to stop
asking “why?”
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36. Stop asking "why" when the useful
responses stop coming
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37. What if we have more than one answer
to a why?
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38. Repeat the process for the different
branches until you reach
a root cause for each one
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39. The Five Whys is a simple yet effective
tool for uncovering the root cause
of a problem
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40. You can use it for troubleshooting,
problem solving, and
process improvement initiatives
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41. Looking for more continuous improvement
tools and tips?
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