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“Ask 'why' five times about every matter”

toyota-global.com

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Re: “Ask 'why' five times about every matter”

#31

Post by SoreGums »

iaskwhy wrote: post #9

I don't force it 5x but asking why was the best lesson I learnt working with users/clients as people tend to talk about solutions and not the problems. That's also where my nickname comes from.

Yes, this!

As someone who likes to fundamentally understand processes and underlying reasons. It does take some practise though to get at the heart of the matter and propose alternative solutions that work without being abrupt or like "c'mon, etc?". People higher up tend to be rather attached to their solutions even though after chatting for a bit it becomes increasingly obvious a different approach would get them what they want and often reduce human error factors and/or make effeicent :)

I'm figuring this out slowly, getting "it" though.

Re: “Ask 'why' five times about every matter”

#32

Post by kidmenot »

iaskwhy wrote: post #9

I don't force it 5x but asking why was the best lesson I learnt working with users/clients as people tend to talk about solutions and not the problems. That's also where my nickname comes from.

> people tend to talk about solutions and not the problems

Hard to make this any clearer. To expand a bit on this, most of the times the solutions they talk about are of course expressed in terms of what they already know, which makes communication that much harder. It's a key aspect to keep in mind, and one that ideally both parties, but at least the one that's taking the job, needs to be aware of.

Otherwise it's like visiting a physician and telling them the diagnosis instead of the symptoms.

Re: “Ask 'why' five times about every matter”

#34

Post by johnchristopher »

spyrosg wrote: post #20
ajuc wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's supposed to be why(why(why(why(why(theMatter)))); not why(theMatter); why(theMatter); why(theMatter); why(theMatter); why(theMatter);

Careful, enough why()'s and you invariably get nil. This is a pointer your employer probably doesn't want you to follow.

Do not ask `Why?` Be cautious with `How?` `Why?` leads inexorably to paradox.

Re: “Ask 'why' five times about every matter”

#35

Post by Piskvorrr »

Why is there no filter on the intake? It was proposed, but declined by management as "too costly".

Why is it too costly? Because cutting visible costs is perceived as saving money and therefore Good, whereas prevention and maintenance are perceived as unnecessary, because Bad Stuff Just Happens Regardless.

Why? Because people suck at statistics ("if we can't eliminate a risk altogether, there's no point in trying, let's just forever keep fixing the fallout") and because Fixing Broken Stuff Is Someone Else's Budget, Let's Pass The Buck.

(Or at least, that's the way things tend to turn out when you decide to go beyond the immediate cause-and-effect)

Re: “Ask 'why' five times about every matter”

#36

Post by krutulis »

elthran wrote: post #25
MrJagil wrote: post #18

I preach this whenever i can in regards to social issues. Whenever one of your friends, or any person, acts in a way that you don't agree with (being rude, sleeping around etc), be patient and try to think about possible underlying causes; it's much more fruitful to engage the underlying unhappiness (carefully) than to react hastily to the immediate situation.

Why do you have the assumption that all behaviour that you don't disagree with has a cause of underlying unhappiness? Some people enjoy things that other people don't approve of.

And also why do some people enjoy things that other people don't approve of?

Re: “Ask 'why' five times about every matter”

#38

Post by dalke »

drb311 wrote: post #30

A very good approach. Frequently talked about, rarely applied.

I find it hard to figure out if I'm only finding the answer I'm looking for.

Apply 5 whys to "Why did Snowden leak classified information?"

I can think of multiple directions it can go: "he's a traitor who managed to get around security policies", "the US spies too much", and "contractors aren't covered under internal whistleblower protections so leaking was the most likely way to get things to change."

Re: “Ask 'why' five times about every matter”

#39

Post by prmph »

ajuc wrote: post #5
hoodoof wrote: post #3

"Why do vehicle manufacturers lie about emissions?" "Why do vehicle manufacturers lie about emissions?" "Why do vehicle manufacturers lie about emissions?" "Why do vehicle manufacturers lie about emissions?" "Why do vehicle manufacturers lie about emissions?"

It's supposed to be why(why(why(why(why(theMatter)))); not why(theMatter); why(theMatter); why(theMatter); why(theMatter); why(theMatter);

Well, that's possible. But sometimes also the whys are mutually recursive.

"Why is X unelectable? Because realistically no one will vote for him. And why will no one vote for him? Because he is unelectable"

Re: “Ask 'why' five times about every matter”

#40

Post by davnn »

oblio wrote: post #17
davnn wrote: post #2

That's a really valuable lesson learned from The Lean Startup :-)

This method was invented by https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakichi_Toyoda . He died in 1930. I'm pretty sure that it predates even the word "startup" as it is currently used :)

I know that Eric Ries did not invent it, but he spread this idea with his highly popular book.
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