Issue:September 2013
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT - The 5 Whys
One of the key business success factors that I have followed throughout the years is that of always trying to determine the root cause of any problem. The issue is that most people only look as far as the symptoms that are causing the problem and not the root cause, and there is an easy way to determine these causes, and it is called The 5 Whys.
Many moons ago, the founder of Toyota Corporation, Sakichi Toyota, developed a technique that was and is used within the corporation’s manufacturing methodologies. It is still considered a critical component of problem-solving at Toyota today. The process is simply asking the question why five times. Let me provide you an example of only getting to the symptom of a problem.
-My car won’t start (the problem)
Why?
-The battery is dead (the symptom)
So the solution to the problem is to recharge the battery. But the following week, you have the same dead battery problem. So you buy a new battery because it apparently will not take a charge. However, the following week, you have the same dead battery problem. Now let’s take the same problem and apply The 5 Whys process.
-My car won’t start (the problem)
Why?
The battery is dead
Why?
The alternator doesn’t work
Why?
The alternator belt broke
Why?
It was worn, and I didn’t replace it
Why?
I was too lazy
So the root cause as to why the car won’t start is the person’s laziness, not the dead battery. The dead battery is a symptom. The key is to urge the troubleshooter not to assume anything and to avoid logic traps. Instead, the solution is to follow the symptoms through The 5 Whys until you find the root cause of the problem. Oftentimes, you will see that the root cause of a problem is because you have a flawed process in place or no process at all. In this case, you should be asking the question “what is the process that is in place, if there is one, and if so, is it the right process?” In addition, a key phrase to keep in mind in any five why exercise is “people do not always fail, sometimes processes do!”
John A. Bermingham is currently the COO of 1st Light Energy & Conservation Lighting. He was previously Co-President and COO of AgraTech, a biotech enterprise focused on chitosan, a biomaterial processed from crustacean shells (shrimp, crawfish, crab, etc), as well as President & CEO of Cord Crafts, LLC, a leading manufacturer and marketer of permanent botanicals. Prior to Cord Crafts, he was President & CEO of Alco Consumer Products, Inc., an importer of house ware, home goods, pet, and safety products under the Alco brand name and through licenses from the ASPCA and Red Cross. He successfully turned around the company in 60 days and sold Alco to a strategic buyer. Mr. Bermingham was previously the President & CEO of Lang Holdings, Inc. (an innovative leader in the social sentiment and home décor industries) and President, Chairman, and CEO of Ampad (a leading manufacturer and distributor of office products). With more than 20 years of turnaround experience, he also held the positions of Chairman, President, and CEO of Centis, Inc., Smith Corona Corporation, and Rolodex Corporation. He turned around several business units of AT&T Consumer Products Group and served as the EVP of the Electronics Group and President of the Magnetic Products Group, Sony Corporation of America. Mr. Bermingham served 3 years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps with responsibility for Top Secret Cryptographic Codes and Top Secret Nuclear Release Codes, earned his BA in Business Administration from Saint Leo University, and completed the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Advanced Management Program.
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