Before you can solve a root problem, you have to understand it—that’s the motto of the 5 whys method.

This technique involves asking a series of “why”s until you eventually uncover the root cause—the real “why” beneath all those other “why”s. Instead of settling for a surface-level answer, this methodology requires you to confront the underlying factors and problems, so you can more effectively solve them and create a pathway for continuous improvement.

The 5 whys are used to get to the bottom of a specific problem, using a series of repeated “why” questions. To create your own 5 whys example, start with a problem. Then, ask yourself why that issue came to be. Once you have an answer, ask why that happened. Keep asking “why?” until you can’t go any further, and you’ll find your root cause.

Wondering when to use 5 whys? Anytime you notice a shortcoming—whether it’s in the office, at school, or in your personal life—you can ask “why?” to work backward and examine how you ended up there through useful responses.

Let’s say your customer service team is struggling to meet their emails per hour target. Your 5 whys process would look like this:

- My team members aren’t sending the required 10 emails/hour. Why?

- Many of the emails take longer than expected to answer. Why?

- Some emails need a from-scratch response. Why?

- There are no email response templates for certain issues. Why?

- We lack the necessary information to create accurate templates. Why?

- We don’t have a strong enough connection with the app development team.

This final point is your takeaway—the cause of your initial problem, and the thing you need to fix. In this case, it’s time to send an introductory email to the developers.

What are the 5 whys going to help you discover? Find out with a free template from FigJam.