Workshop Exercises: Understand
Five Whys
Analyze and understand the root cause of a problem or issue
Why: Uncover the true root cause rather than symptoms by promotes critical thinking, reflection, and problem-solving
When: Use when encountering problems or issues needing thorough examination to identify its underlying cause
Instructions for running this play
- Prepare a problem statement before the meeting and discuss it first thing.
- Distribute sticky notes to each player, asking them to number five of them 1 through 5
- Ask the participants to review the problem statement and ask themselves WHY it’s a problem.
- Ask WHY five times, including the previous answer in the next question to narrow focus on the problem.
- Have each participant Playback their chain of questions to the group
- Rewrite the problem statement based on your findings
- Work with the group to build consensus on which of the five WHYs in the columns offer the most meaningful insight into the problem.
- Consider finishing off with a <a href=”/plays/workshop-exercise/who-what-when-matrix>Who/What/When</a> exercise or even a How Might We… to follow up.
Tips to perfect this play
Master and adapt the play to fit your context and needs.
Tip
Ask in different ways. What caused [problem]? What led to [problem]? What are the conditions under which [problem] occurred? What contributed to [problem]?
Tip
The Five, Six, Seven, Eight Whys. Keep asking “why” until the team agrees you’ve hit a meaningful level of root cause.
Tip: Five Hows
Instead of asking "Why?" for each response, ask "How?" to explore the factors and actions that contribute to the problem or issue.
Every card deck includes workshop patterns, so your team can put the methods to work in your next session.
Running behavioral design workshops? The Persuasive Patterns Workshop Playbook (PDF) shows you how to design and run them.
Browse the card decks- 5 Whys Template
- The 5 Whys by Dave Gray
- Complete Guide to the 5 Whys Exercise by Atlassian
- 5 Whys Exercise