Course Information

Five Whys Training

Learners will be able to:

  • Ask effective “Why” questions.
  • Stay focused on the process, not the person.
  • Use the chain of question responses to identify the root cause.
Five Whys Training

About This Course

Five Whys is a problem-solving technique used to get to the root cause of an issue by asking “why?” five times (or more).  Typically the first two or three answers to “why?” point to symptoms of problems and not to the root cause.  Don’t limit your questioning to just five Whys. Keep asking “why?” until you think you have come to the end of the questioning trail – and then ask it one more time.  The objective of the five Whys technique is to create a logical flow of causes about the process that lead to the root cause of the problem.

Five Whys training introduces learners to this problem-solving technique including how to formulate “why?” questions and then how to collect and analyze data to properly answer the questions.  Examples of the questioning process in a variety of settings are provided and pitfalls to using the process are discussed along with strategies to avoid them.