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Asking ‘why’ is harder than you think, but it works

George Stalk Jr / DNA

Asking “why” is the basic act of probing. Searching for root causes takes strategy formulation away from the unconscious
repetition of past patterns and mimicry of competitors. Asking “why” leads to new insights and innovations that sometimes
yield important competitive advantages.

Asking “why” repeatedly is a source of continuous self-renewal, but the act of inquiry itself is an art. It can evoke strong
reactions from the questioned. It is rarely welcomed. It is sometimes met with defensiveness and hostility, on the one hand,
or, on the other, the patronizing patience reserved by the knowledgeable for the uninformed.
To ask “why” — and “why not” — about basics is to violate the social convention that expertise is to be respected, not
challenged. Functional organisations in mature industries have a particular problem in this regard. But growing enterprises in
new frontiers must eventually confront the reasons for their success or be displaced by competitors who see things differently.

One risks a lot to challenge the “lord” in his fiefdom.

Questioning the basics — the assumptions that “knowledgeable” people don’t question — is disruptive. Probing slows things
down, but often to good effect. Probing can yield revolutionary new thoughts in quite unexpected places.

Few new thoughts have been as revolutionary as the Japanese Manufacturing Technique. Toyota was the leader in its
development, and over more than 40 years slowly learned to turn upside down the most basic assumptions about how
manufacturing must be conceived and organised. Central to this rethinking was tireless probing.

In his book on the Toyota Production System, Taiichi Ohno, formally the vice-president of manufacturing of Toyota, cites the
practice of “the five why’s.” He gives an example of how asking “why” five times (or more) led him through all the explanations
to find the most important root cause.

It’s easy to say, but difficult to practice. Suppose a machine stops functioning.
1. “Why did the machine stop functioning?”
“There was an overload, and the fuse blew.”
2. “Why was there an overload?”
“It was because lubrication of the bearing was not sufficient.”
3. “Why was the lubrication not sufficient?”
“Because the lubrication pump was not pumping sufficiently.”
4. “Why was it not pumping sufficiently?”
“The shaft of the pump was worn, and it was rattling.”
5. “Why was the shaft worn out?”
“There was no strainer attached, this caused metal scrap to get in.”

To have stopped anywhere along the way would have ended the search before the root cause was found. And there is still
value in this example of asking even more “whys.” To probe to the limits is to simplify the problem to its essentials and solve
one problem rather than five.

To pursue such probing takes a special, strongly motivated person, unless one makes such questioning the norm for the
organisation. Asking “why” five times is easy to say, but hard to do. It challenges people’s knowledge and even self-respect. It
can call into question their diligence and the basis of their expertise. It requires fresh thinking on all sides. Yet it’s so basic to
learning, to seeing new things from the familiar.

But the risks of asking “why” are real. The “Lord” in his fiefdom can inflict great pain on the questioner. In the early 19th
century, doctors routinely went, without washing, from autopsies to the treatment of patients — with disastrous results. Ignaz
Semmelweis is the man who first hypothesized the basic relationship and proposed and tested a change to clean hands — yet
in his own time he was rejected by peers, because he questioned the accepted practice. Semmelweis was only vindicated by
research that occurred after his death in an insane asylum.

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The “lord” must be handled with great interpersonal skill. If you face a “lord” try using the “five whys” by yourself, first. Then
invite the “lord” to share his wisdom and experience to help you refine and extend your initial effort. If possible, re-visit a
decision whose outcome the “lord” is unhappy with and work with him using five “whys” to see if the decision is indeed the
correct one.

Good strategy depends critically on knowing the root causes. Finding them is often a task beyond quantitative analysis. One
must look to broader frames of reference and bring basic judgment and common sense to bear. Probing — asking why — is the
often intuitive search for the logic that heavy data analysis can miss or bury.

Asking “why” is a qualitative act. It is different from quantitative analysis, but the one gains power from the other. It propels
analysis forward by raising new questions to be subjected to rigorous analysis. It takes us beyond the numbers to new
answers, new solutions, and new opportunities.

Asking “why” five times is easy in concept; harder in practice. It can be very rewarding. Why not do it?

The power of why

Asking “why” can raise the questions that are fundamental, but not necessarily answerable through rigorous analysis. These
are the basic questions of leadership and common sense. They are the search for “the point.” For example:
Why do we continue in this business?
Why should anyone buy this product?
What will prevent competitors from matching us?
What will we do then?
Why are we making so much money?
Why won’t it eventually come to an end?
What must we do now to prepare for or moderate that change?
These sorts of probes search for the bedrock reasons for value and advantages to test how enduring they may be. They ask
whether the shape and character of the business and its strategy make sense.

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