I tend to ask why a lot (especially for someone who isn’t under 5).
Sometimes when I note the importance of why people think I am a ‘lean zealot’ obsessed with getting to the root cause via my 5 whys, which isn’t it.
It is seeking to understand: Why do we do what we do?
- What are the intentions behind our actions?
- What are we trying to achieve?
- What is the purpose of ___________?
Most lean efforts start with a problem statement that gets at “what are we trying to achieve?” Not always explicitly stated as why or purpose, but we are comfortable with the concept of having a purpose for the work at that level.
So why do we have a different operational definition for why when it comes to the 5 whys? Why is it 5 whys? If we guess enough times will we get to a place where it makes sense to do improvement work? Are we seeking to understand?
Do we recognize (or not) that we are asking the question from the other side of the cause and effect equation? Isn’t it at the core the same thinking?:
| Why: | Cause (Countermeasure) | Effect (Target) |
| What are we trying to achieve? | Unknown (We may have a hypothesis, but we need to experiment). There is uncertainty in how to achieve our objective. | Known (Where do we want to be). We define this. |
| Why is this happening? | Unknown (We may have a hypothesis, but we need to experiment). There is uncertainty in what is causing the observed effect. | Known (This is what we are observing). |
2 responses to “Why ask why?”
[…] “I ask ‘why?’ a lot. I guess it can get annoying sometimes, but I can’t help… […]
[…] why, […]