Why five whys?

Organizations must address challenges when they start discussing new technology implementation. Sometimes, they are very certain that they know the solution to their problems, and sometimes, the only knowledge they have is they need a solution. Using the five whys is a great opportunity to better understand the organization's needs, pain points, and business processes. Sakichi Toyoda is credited with the development of the five whys methodology, and it is a part of the problem-solving skills used in the Toyota Production System (TPS). It is an interactive interrogative process to identify the root cause of a problem. By asking "why?", the cause and effect become apparent so that the problem itself can be solved instead of one or more of the effects of the problem. With a little adaptation for the specific circumstances, the five whys is a helpful discovery mechanism.

Here is a blank template of the progression of discovery using the five whys technique...