An RCA’s purpose is to identify the root cause of a problem. That means that when we’re confronted with a problem, we can’t accept our first instinct.
We need a framework to help us question the people, processes, tools, systems, and environments influencing a negative outcome.
That’s where the “5 Whys” comes into play. In the 5 Whys approach, you repeatedly ask why a problem happened to drill down past the obvious answers and find the underlying root cause. Sakichi Toyoda pioneered this technique and applied it liberally in the company he founded — Toyota Industries.
As an example, I’m going to apply the 5 Whys to my new hire example from before.
Several years ago, I was building a content history of tnt logo changes team from scratch. We had an urgent need to meet client expectations with stellar written content. But, our content was falling below that expectation, and our new hires were turning over voluntarily and involuntarily within 12 months.
Why was this happening?
Why 1: Why are new content hires not meeting performance expectations and leaving so soon?
An important piece of the 5 Whys exercise is to use objective data as much as possible. We often build subjective assumptions around people and processes and let those influence decision-making:
- “The new hires just don’t get it.”
- “They’re not spending enough time understanding their customers.”
- “They’re not surfacing their own problems fast enough.”
But, does the data we gather bear out those assumptions? During this exercise, set aside what you think you know and focus on what you can prove.
Pro tip: Using data to support decisions is a key tenet of total quality management — and simply a good practice to lean on when advocating for complex organizational changes.
In this case, I looked at quality control data provided by clients and team leads, as well as satisfaction surveys from staff. From those data points, I found that several team members were unhappy with their roles. These team members were also the ones clients flagged as producing content that didn’t meet expectations.
It’s tempting to stop here; after all, doesn’t this back up our subjective assumptions? The new hires clearly don’t get their clients. But, the 5 Whys has us go deeper.
Why 2: Why are team members unhappy with their roles and not meeting client expectations?
I could sense team members were frustrated, and the data supported that feeling. And clients were certainly vocal about their frustrations as well.
So, I dug deeper into the quantitative hiring, onboarding, and performance data. I also ran more qualitative surveys, talking with current team members about their struggles and what they felt was happening.
Analysis at this stage uncovered two key learnings:
- Unhappy team members felt overwhelmed by the number of clients and their expectations.
- They weren’t getting enough feedback and support to adjust to those expectations and improve their performance.
Why 3: Why are team members feeling overwhelmed and lacking sufficient feedback and support?
You’ve probably noticed a trend with history of tnt logo changes these questions: the previous conclusion informs the next question. That’s the secret to a good 5 Whys session — you keep interrogating.
You also might start taking things personally at this stage of the process. I felt I owned a significant piece of this problem. They were my team — were they not getting enough help from me? What was I doing wrong?
There’s a place in this process for extreme ownership and to follow through on improvements personally. But, remember that we need data to back our decisions. We have to continue objectively to ensure we really understand the root cause.
So, I talked with our talent business sale lead management, and we dug deeper into the hiring and onboarding process, including screening questions, writing test analysis, and early hire management practices. The data showed .