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“Ask 'why' five times about every matter”

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

#141

Post by satysin »

kamaal wrote: post #127
satysin wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love Feynman. He was an incredible teacher but this video has always annoyed me a little. The interviewer asked a pretty clear question (explain why magnets repel or attract depending on how you align them) but Feynman goes on a bit of a rant about how the guy won't understand if he explains things as he (Feynman) understands it and that he (Feynman) doesn't know how to explain it to him (interview) in ways he woul…

Feynman tries to explain the absurdity of trying to ask questions which if divided down to their most simplistic forms can't give binary 'yes' or 'no' answers. The issue with the 'why' questions is at the bottom most place in the the 'why' stack you need to have an axiom/postulation or at least a plain assumption, without which you can't explain the subsequent 'why' or 'how' questions. Now this a classic trick in try…

Yeah I understand Feynman's point it is just if you watch the whole series of questions he has no problem answering other questions.

A perfectly acceptable answer from Feynman would have been to just explain magnetic force in a basic (high school) level.

He could have made his argument about any of the questions the interviewer asked as pretty much every scientific question will get down to fundamental physics which will be beyond most people.

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

#142

Post by wccrawford »

arethuza wrote: post #68
wccrawford wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually ask, "What problem are you trying to solve?", to anyone who brings me a solution instead of a problem, but it comes down to the same thing. I guess I don't even really know which question would be more efficient at getting the real answer.

I wonder how that sits with "Don't bring me problems—bring me solutions" that I occasionally hear from non-technical managers...

I appreciate when they bring me a problem with a suggested solution. It's often quite helpful in determining the best possible solution, and so far as I remember, they quite often got that solution implemented.

But before I started asking that, and just implemented their solutions, I got a lot of kickback for it not actually solving their problem, which is how I learned to ask it in the first place.

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

#144

Post by tamana »

the4dpatrick wrote: post #133
Joeri wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feature requests are really prone to this. Customers will only ask for features they can imagine, not the ones that really solve their problem. A significant chunk of the time the customer is better served by a different feature that takes less work. This is why i don't like tender-based software projects. The tender already describes the features needed, and they must be built even if they are suboptimal for the pro…

Could you give an example of what you mean by "tender-based software projects"?

The client writes spec and solicits a bid, instead of soliciting design partners.

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

#145

Post by tamana »

arethuza wrote: post #68
wccrawford wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually ask, "What problem are you trying to solve?", to anyone who brings me a solution instead of a problem, but it comes down to the same thing. I guess I don't even really know which question would be more efficient at getting the real answer.

I wonder how that sits with "Don't bring me problems—bring me solutions" that I occasionally hear from non-technical managers...

The client bring the problem, the vendor brings the solution

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

#147

Post by joezydeco »

Bartweiss wrote: post #114
code4life wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd probably ask "Why 5 times?" and then it would be game on.

By six, you're usually at something like "because that makes me happy". By seven, you're into metaphysics and cognitive science. Of course, some issues are genuinely simple, and you're off in unhelpful territory halfway through. I suspect five why's is a decent estimate, but not necessarily more accurate than four.

There's a really good Louis CK routine about this, involving his young daughter.

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

#148

Post by stevewillows »

erac1e wrote: post #57
stevewillows wrote: post #47

I survived several years in a Six Sigma organization. The Five Whys was one of my favorite 'tools' despite the 'Black Belts' dragging the process out much longer than required. I've never seen a methodology burn through more easel pads.

Why are the five whys one of your favorite tools?

Like Spooky23 said, it actually works.

We had one project where the office admins kanban'd the conference room. This resulted in rectangles of painter's tape with a white label inside that read, 'Projector remote'.

Six Sigma has some value, but most of it is branded logic.

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

#149

Post by dsp1234 »

csours wrote: post #137
btowngar wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel that some people are very good at seeing problems, and some people are very good at finding solutions to problems. I don't see any reason that the same skills should be present in any given individual, so you always need both types.

I understand what you are saying. How does someone who is good at seeing problems communicate those problems and not come off as whiny and complaining?

I often hear "Ugh, it's tiring you telling us what all the problems are, why can't you tell us the solution?".

But I get "Man, I'm so glad you saw that problem way back at the design stage. We really dodged a bullet there." about 3-4 times as often.

What I generally don't hear is, "OMFG, our project is about to fail. Why did no one see that this issue was coming and do something about it!".

The assumption that anyone noting a problem is just whining and complaining is a good way to tank a project. I've seen that type of thinking prevail, and it sucks for everyone.

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

#150

Post by stcredzero »

hashkb wrote: post #108
jdimov10 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The magic insight is always this: "Because I want to feel good." When someone doesn't want to put this in words, they get annoyed and stop talking to you.

You're so right... but you can substitute "powerful", " secure", etc for "good"; and also sometimes "because of secret reasons".

Sometimes it's, "Because I don't want a repeat of this crappy thing that happened to me."

Often software is used as a means for one group inside a company to control another group.

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