The 5 Whys

The 5 Whys

The aim is to identify the underlying cause of the challenge to create an optimal solution for it.

1. The teacher draws 6 boxes – one below the other – on the whiteboard and explains the use of the 5 Whys. 
2. The students, or the teacher, define a problem with a product and create a draft statement for the challenge.
3. The groups rewrite the challenge as a ‘Why’ question and put it in the first box e.g. if the challenge is how can we stop the icecaps melting? This should be rewritten as ‘Why are the icecaps melting?’
4. The groups answer the question and write it as a ‘Why’ question.
5. The students repeat the process 5 times to reach the reason for the problem in the challenge. 
6. The students review the ‘Why’ answers which will identify the nature of the challenge.

This activity will identify the underlying cause of the challenge in order to identify the real problem we are dealing with.
The activity could be done using online tools such as Padlet, Trello, virtual whiteboard and breakout rooms in Teams/Zoom.

Inspired by: Inspired by: Sakichi Toyada – the inventor of Toyota Industries- https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_5W.htm