If there is a cult of the root cause, I have yet to meet it.
Here's what doing an exercise similar to 5 Why's gets you:
- An understanding of where issues come from. Whether your plan of action starts from the top, bottom, or middle, taking the time to step back and broaden your perspective before you jump in to fix a problem helps to make sure you're going after the right things for the right reasons.
- A culture of _not_ just picking the most expedient and facile solution every time issues come up, and going with that. In companies I've been in, the pressure is almost always on to find the dumbest, hackiest, absolutely fastest path out of trouble. Spend multiple years solving every problem that way, and you are in deep trouble! It takes institutional courage to push back against that, and having a practice in place to force you to stop and think now and again gives you an opportunity to summon that courage.
- A culture of ownership. This seems a little counterintuitive to me, since if you follow root causes deep enough you're liable to stumble onto people and process problems that are way out of your control and pay grade. Looking at root causes this way, you might think it's a process of passing the buck. However, by shining a light on such things, and finding people to address those things where they have no owner, you can push towards a better collective ownership of the real issues that face your company.
No good management idea is free from abuse, of course. You must exercise taste and judgment in deciding how deep to push with root causes, and what to do with the discoveries. I would think it's rather self-evident that 5 Why's doesn't mean you always ask exactly five questions in a strictly linear pattern. But for heaven's sake, make sure you ask more than one!
I would say it's even more basic than that: the 5 whys are a way to push people to gather information and talk to one another before making decisions about solutions. The point is not to achieve perfection, but to consistently not make stupid and easily avoidable mistakes.
Here's what doing an exercise similar to 5 Why's gets you:
- An understanding of where issues come from. Whether your plan of action starts from the top, bottom, or middle, taking the time to step back and broaden your perspective before you jump in to fix a problem helps to make sure you're going after the right things for the right reasons.
- A culture of _not_ just picking the most expedient and facile solution every time issues come up, and going with that. In companies I've been in, the pressure is almost always on to find the dumbest, hackiest, absolutely fastest path out of trouble. Spend multiple years solving every problem that way, and you are in deep trouble! It takes institutional courage to push back against that, and having a practice in place to force you to stop and think now and again gives you an opportunity to summon that courage.
- A culture of ownership. This seems a little counterintuitive to me, since if you follow root causes deep enough you're liable to stumble onto people and process problems that are way out of your control and pay grade. Looking at root causes this way, you might think it's a process of passing the buck. However, by shining a light on such things, and finding people to address those things where they have no owner, you can push towards a better collective ownership of the real issues that face your company.
No good management idea is free from abuse, of course. You must exercise taste and judgment in deciding how deep to push with root causes, and what to do with the discoveries. I would think it's rather self-evident that 5 Why's doesn't mean you always ask exactly five questions in a strictly linear pattern. But for heaven's sake, make sure you ask more than one!