Five Why’s Improve Your Critical Thinking

1. Five Why’s Improve Your Critical Thinking One of the most famous and simple problem-solving methodologies introduced by Toyota has become known as the five why’s. It’s a tool where you simply keep asking “Why” 5 times to identify the root cause of the problem and potentially a simple solution. We all naturally ask Why all the time? The last figure I heard is that kids ask around 90 questions a day many of them “Why?” style questions. And often when trying to explain the best way to imagine how the ‘Five Whys’ work is to imagine children asking “why” … again and again. As adults we ask Why once or maybe twice. To ask our friends more than twice, may make us look like petulant children. To ask you boss “Why?” once may not even feel possible in case it comes across threatening or disrespectful, or perhaps you will feel that its a sign of your own lack of knowledge. But asking why without the threatening and undermining tone is an essential way we all began to learn. Asking why almost gets kicked out of us at school and with it the questioning mind that we all need if we actually want to do something different. As a parent, I know the feeling in the car when your own child in the back asks a question. The response that is given just does not satisfy their curiosity or help them

2. order that particular information as they need to or as they would like to. So they ask “Why Dad?”. It does not take long within this cycle of asking “why?” before we all begin to have difficulty to answer. We twist our logic as we try to justify why we said what we said in the first place … “but why?” just keeps on coming and before you know it we end up tongue-tied and just putting our foot down with “STOP! That’s just how it is! Alright” The ‘Five Whys’ is this simple in theory. It asks us to take an open mind to a problem and to not be afraid to keep asking why five times (plus or minus a couple depending on the situation). The goal is to get down to an almost “A-HA!” moment when we have begun to uncover a root cause. So let’s bring this to life with a real-life example regarding the Washington Monument. The Washington Monument and others for that matter were deteriorating quite badly in the early 90’s and people were unsure why. However, on the desk of Don Messersmith, an esteemed Entomologist (the scientific study of insects) was what has become one of the most famous examples of the five whys approach to problem- solving. The problem was simple: The Washinton Monument in Washington D.C. is deteriorating. Why #1 – Why is the monument deteriorating? Because harsh chemicals are frequently used to clean the monument Why #2 – Why are harsh chemicals needed? To clean off the large number of bird droppings being left on the monument Why #3 – Why are there a large number of bird droppings on the monument? Because of the large number of spiders and other insects which are a food source of the birds Why #4 – Why are there large numbers of spiders and other insects around the monument? Because the insects get drawn to the monument at dusk Why #5 – Why are the insects drawn to the monument at dusk? Because the lighting in the evening attracts the local insects

3. This classic five why example shows how the goal of this problem-solving approach is to move past the first level inquiry. It would have been quite easy to change the chemical which was causing the apparent issue or investigate different cleaning methods which may slow the deterioration but nothing more. The solution implemented was simply to delay turning on the lights at night. The result was a spectacular 85% reduction in the midges by 85% and consequently, a massive drop in bird droppings and the level of cleaning required. The added bonus was also a reduction in energy costs. LEANSCAPE Email id : reagan@leanscape.io Website : https://www.leanscape.io/ Contact us : (34) 683 327 605