While watching Mammuth, a picturesque film featuring Depardieu as a good-natured biker setting off in search of his work records to receive his full retirement pension, I came across a sequence implementing the 5 whys. Some “Root Cause Analysis” between Depardieu & Siné!
I’m seizing the opportunity to discuss this method that I encourage everyone to practice regularly.
Everyone always (or almost always) mentions the same example when citing this method: the Washington Monument (and even then, the monument in question often changes!): The obstacle isn’t always what you think it is: by asking “why?” 5 times (or 4, or 6, but 5 is generally significant) you often get a much more relevant answer than the one initially considered.
So this famous example is the eroding “Washington Monument”. The firm responsible for the cement couldn’t find the cause (root cause analysis). And so they turned to the 5 whys
- Why is the building deteriorating?
Because too many chemicals are being applied to it
- Why are too many chemicals being applied?
To clean the pigeon droppings!
- Why are there so many pigeons?
Because they eat the insects on the building!
- Why are there so many insects?
Because of the light!
Solution: Reduce the Monument’s lighting hours…
I’m coming back to my “Mammuth” even if here the Root Cause Analysis session fizzles out…:
Siné: Why weren’t you registered with the agricultural retirement fund?
Depardieu: Well because I’m not a farmer.
Siné: And why aren’t you a farmer?
Depardieu: Well because I don’t have the degree.
Siné: Why don’t you have the degree?
Depardieu: Because I don’t have the baccalaureate.
Siné: Why don’t you have the baccalaureate?
Depardieu: Well, because school bored the hell out of me.
Siné: And why did school bore the hell out of you?
Depardieu: Because the teachers annoyed me.
Siné: And why did the teachers annoy you?
Depardieu: Well because I didn’t understand anything!
Siné: And why didn’t you understand anything?
Depardieu: Well because… because…
Siné: You just need to say one word (…) I’ll help you… because you’re stupid.
Okay, this example fizzles out, and ultimately I wonder if I shouldn’t have, like everyone else, just stuck with the Washington Monument…
Why do we find so few concrete examples (like the “Washington Monument” one)? Because often the answer is very context-dependent, and therefore doesn’t really make sense as an example. I encourage you nonetheless to practice this simple little method that very often (in my view) proves very effective. Naturally it also faces quite a few objections (see criticism here) but I remain very fond of it. It doesn’t require much effort and often yields big returns.