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Inspiration Card
Co-Creation |
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Format of the Tool
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C11 5 Whys
| Idea Generation | Stakeholder & Citizen Engagement | Need finding | Planning & Development | Evaluation | Learning |
10000
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Timeframe
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Minutes
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30
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By repeatedly asking the question “Why” you can come to the root of the problem. The apparent reason for a problem will lead you to another question. Even though this technique is called 5 whys, you might have to ask “why” fewer or more times to get to the root of the problem
Step-by-step guidance on how to ask the 5 Whys
1. Write down the specific problem. Writing the issue helps you formalize the problem and describe it completely. It also helps a team focus on the same problem.
2. Ask Why the problem happens and write the answer down below the problem.
3. If the answer you just provided doesn’t identify the root cause of the problem that you wrote down in Step 1, ask Why again and write that answer down.
4. Loop back to step 3 until the team is in agreement that the problem’s root cause is identified. To reach the root of the problem, it might take fewer or more than five Whys.
- Excel spreadsheet table
- Analysis technique that is simple to use
- Helps determine the cause of a problem
- Identify the root of the problem