Sometimes we can seem to keep making the same mistakes over and over again even when tweaks and changes are made to processes. When this happens, it can mean we are not getting to the root cause of the problem.

The process of asking “Why?” five times, developed by Sakichi Toyoda, is an important part of the Toyota Production System and is used in Kaizen, lean and Six Sigma. It basically says that when you encounter a problem, ask why repeatedly until a root cause is found. For example:

• The problem: Delivery of finished product to client is late.

o Why? – The product was not packaged until after the due date.

o Why? – The special packing materials were not available before the due date.

o Why? – The packaging materials were not ordered in time for delivery.

o Why? – The packaging team did not receive packing specifications in time.

o Why? – The production team did not have a task item set to notify the packaging team.

The process doesn’t always have to have five steps; sometimes more or fewer steps are needed. The important thing is to keep going until a root cause is found. When using this method, keep a focus on where the processes fail and don’t get caught up on answers that are outside of your control.