five-whys

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SKILL.md (first lines)

# Five Whys - Root Cause Analysis

Systematic guide to uncovering root causes through iterative questioning,
originally developed by Sakichi Toyoda for Toyota Motor Corporation.

## When to Use This Skill

- Investigating recurring problems
- Debugging system failures
- Understanding customer churn
- Analyzing project delays or budget overruns
- Post-mortem analysis
- Process improvement initiatives

## Core Concepts

### The Method

```
Problem Statement
    ↓
Why? → Answer 1
    ↓
Why? → Answer 2
    ↓
Why? → Answer 3
    ↓
Why? → Answer 4
    ↓
Why? → Answer 5
    ↓
Root Cause Identified
    ↓
Solution Implementation
```

### Key Principles

| Principle                    | Description                          |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| **Facts over assumptions**   | Base questions on data, not guesses  |
| **Systems over individuals** | Focus on process failures, not blame |
| **Flexibility**              | Go beyond 5 questions if needed      |
| **Verification**             | Validate findings with evidence      |

## Questioning Techniques

### Standard Approach

For each iteration, ask:

- Why did this happen?
- What caused this situation?
- What led to this outcome?

### Alternative Phrasing (Less Confrontational)

When direct "why" questions feel threatening, use softer alternatives:

#### Root Cause Investigation

| Instead of...        | Try...                                |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Why did this happen? | What was going on when this happened? |
| Why did you do that? | What were you trying to accomplish?   |
| Why is this broken?  | How do you suppose we ended up here?  |

#### Understanding Motivation

| Instead of...         | Try...                                     |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Why do you want this? | What happens if we don't get this done?    |
| Why does this matter? | What problems does this solve?             |
| Why is this urgent?   | What do you think will happen if we delay? |

#### Understanding Decisions

| Instead of...                   | Try...                                        |
| ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Why did leadership decide this? | What were the reasons we went this direction? |
| Why this approach?              | How do you see this working long term?        |

## Analysis Framework

### Step 1: Define the Problem

Be specific and measurable:

```
❌ Bad:  "The system is slow"
✅ Good: "Page load time increased from 2s to 8s after the March release"

❌ Bad:  "Customers are unhappy"
✅ Good: "Customer churn increased by 40% over three months"
```

### Step 2: Iterate Through Whys

Document each level clearly:

```
Problem: Customer churn increased by 40%

1. Why? → Customers canceling after free trial
2. Why? → Not seeing enough value during trial
3. Why? → Not completing the onboarding process
4. Why? → Onboarding too complex, requires too much setup
5. Why? → Product lacks automation and intelligent defaults

Root Cause: Poor onboarding experience due to lack of automation
```

### Step 3: Identify Solutions

Target the root cause, not symptoms:

```
Symptom-level fix (avoid):
├── Offer discounts to retain customers

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