More on the 5 Why’s below but first, every leader in his or her area of influence should be coaching their teams. Here is a great trick to help you get at what really is happening when you are trying to solve a challenge in your company.
I was working with a client and when I asked him “what’s up”, he replied, one of our customers is pissed off at us and I am trying to figure out what happened.
I asked him, “WHY” is your customer pissed off at you?”
He replied – His product was not correct when he received it
“Why”, I asked
Reply – The sub-contractor on the project didn’t do what he was supposed to
“Why”, I asked
Reply – The sub-contractor didn’t get the correct specifications for the product
“Why”, I asked
Reply – Because the sales rep that made the sale didn’t turn in the accurate specifications for the product
“Why”, I asked
Reply – Well, we really do not have a system or a process for taking that information from the client to the sub-contractor
Ding, Ding, Ding… now we have the root cause of the problem and can solve it. The next time you have a challenge that seems impossible to solve… ask “Why” 5 times and you will most likely find or will be very close to the root cause and then can take corrective action.
Don’t let yourself get, “Wrapped Around the Axle”, ask “Why” until you solve the problem.