Five Whys – Extracting the Tacit Knowledge
“Five Whys” is a very simple yet powerful method for identifying the root cause of a problem, or the reason for specific activity.
It works by asking “why?” until you are satisfied that you have identified the driver behind the activity or outcome you are investigating.
Tacit activity is that which is “just done” naturally or subconsciously, through the formation of (good or bad) habits.
When investigating processes it is important that we understand the activity we see in front of us and appreciate why something is being done a particular way; doing this avoids inadvertently missing a key step or decision point in the process, or may prevent continuing to do something which doesn’t add value to the outcome of the process.
Taiichi Ohno, Father of the Toyota Production System (Lean Manufacturing)
Try this exercise to help you to understand the significance of identifying the tacit knowledge:
- Without thinking, write down, in order the steps of an everyday process e.g. making a drink, getting ready for work etc.
- The next time you do that task, review your process steps.
- Did you miss anything when you wrote the process down? If the answer is yes, then that was your tacit knowledge.
- Think about the potential impact of not doing the things you didn’t write down on the overall outcome of your process.