When something doesn’t work how many times do you ask “why”?

I take no credit for this approach, I’m just communicating it because I think it is incredibly valuable.

Ask why 5 times – from The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.

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Here’s an example:

A customer complains that you are late with delivery of their new website.

Why did this happen?
You didn’t clarify the delivery date with the customer.

You apologise to the customer and move on.

You asked why once, and fixed the immediate issue. But what about the cause?

Let’s try again…

Why did this happen?
You didn’t clarify the delivery date with the customer.

Why didn’t you clarify the delivery date with the customer?
You’d mentioned a couple of dates, then things changed.

Why did things change?
You delivered a mock-up with a date, then the customer made some changes that impacted the date.

Why did the date change?
You failed to get the customer to give you their full requirements up front.

Why did you fail to get the customer’s full requirements up front?
You have no mechanism to capture this information.

Leading too…

How can you rectify this?
Create a simple customer requirements capture questionnaire, to get the information you need at the start of the project.

What happens now?
You create the questionnaire. Refine it over time and this leads to happier customers.

If you asked why once you would never have solved the root cause of the problem.

By asking why 5 times you could quash the cause and make an iterative improvement to your company.

Do you need to ask why more?