Why Is This Still Happening?

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An Old Tool I Still Use

Have you ever fixed a problem only to have it show up again a week later?

So, you fix it again.

Maybe you add a reminder. Schedule a check-in. Create a tracker.

And somehow, there it is again.

At some point, it's worth asking whether we're actually fixing the problem or just doing a really nice job managing the symptoms.

There's an old tool I learned early in my career that I still use for exactly this.

I spent my early career in manufacturing, where I was introduced to the Five Whys, a practice rooted in the Toyota Production System. The idea is simple: when something goes wrong, don't stop at what you can see. Keep asking why until you get closer to what's actually causing it.

Despite the name, five isn't the magic number. Sometimes you'll get there in three. Sometimes it takes six. The number matters less than getting past the symptom and closer to the source.

I hadn't thought much about where I first learned this until this past week, when I found myself sharing it with a CEO during a conversation about leadership development. We were talking about how managers can get better at understanding what's actually behind the issues showing up on their teams.

Decades after learning it in manufacturing, I'm still using it. Different workplace. Same idea.

Where It Shows Up Isn't Always Where It Starts

Let's say an employee keeps missing a deadline. That's what you can see, so that's usually where you start. You remind them more often. When that doesn't work, you create a tracker. Still late? Maybe it's time for a weekly check-in.

Now we have a tracker, another meeting, and the same late report. But at least we're very organized about it.

The Five Whys asks us to slow down before adding another fix and trace the issue backward:

Why was the report late?
Because the analysis wasn't finished.

Why wasn't the analysis finished?
Because part of it had to be redone.

Why did it have to be redone?
Because the data was incomplete.

Why was the data incomplete?
Because another team hadn't provided everything needed.

Why does that keep happening?
Because no one actually owns the handoff between the two teams.

Well, that's a very different problem than the one we started with.

The late report wasn't the source. It was simply where the problem showed up. And no amount of reminding the employee to get the report in on time was going to fix a broken handoff upstream.

That's what makes this tool useful. It forces us to look beyond the thing that's irritating us today and understand what's creating it.

People Problems Need the Same Curiosity

This matters even more when the issue involves people because we're very good at supplying our own explanation for what happened.

An employee misses deadlines, so they're disorganized. Someone doesn't speak up in meetings, so they're disengaged. Someone isn't taking initiative, so they must not care enough.

We can get from what happened to why we think it happened pretty quickly.

And sometimes we're right. But we've skipped an important step: we haven't asked yet.

Sometimes the source really is an individual performance issue. The Five Whys isn't a way to explain away accountability. It's a way to make sure we understand what we're holding someone accountable for.

Start with what you actually know. The report was late. The assignment wasn't completed. The employee didn't follow through. Then get curious about what happened.

Maybe priorities weren't clear. Maybe there's a broken process. Maybe the employee needs more training. Maybe they don't have information they need. Or maybe they simply didn't do what was expected.

Those require very different conversations.

You can't know which conversation to have until you understand the source.

Ask Your Way Back to the Beginning

With people, I wouldn't worry about literally asking “Why?” five times. That technique loses a little of its charm somewhere around Why #3.

Make it a conversation instead.

“Walk me through what happened.”

“Where did things start to get off track?”

“What got in the way?”

“Is this something you've run into before?”

“Where does this seem to break down?”

“What would need to change for this to go differently next time?”

You're doing the same work. You're tracing the issue backward instead of jumping forward to a solution.

You may find the source isn't where you expected it to be.

Try This Week

Pick one recurring issue on your team. You probably already have one in mind.

Before anyone proposes another reminder, meeting, tracker, rule, or beautifully color-coded spreadsheet, spend ten minutes tracing it backward.

And don't do it alone.

Go to the people who actually do the work. Ask them what happens, where things get stuck, what happens right before the problem shows up, and what they've noticed that you may not see.

Then keep asking questions together until you have a better understanding of where the issue begins.

Resist the urge to jump in with the fix. Let the people closest to the work make connections, challenge assumptions, and help identify what needs to change.

You may discover the problem isn't where you thought it was.

And if you trace it back to exactly where you started? That's useful too.

Now you understand the source before deciding what to do about it.

The Bottom Line

It's easy to react to the problem in front of us. It's harder to slow down long enough to understand what's behind it.

That's what the Five Whys has reminded me to do throughout my career: stay curious a little longer.

Ask another question. Go to the people who know the work. Follow the issue back to where it starts.

Then decide what needs to change.

If the same problem keeps coming back, maybe it isn't asking for another fix. Maybe it's asking for another question.

Need a Thought Partner?

Sometimes you don't need another leadership model. You need a place to talk through what's happening, figure out what to do next, and practice the conversations that come with the job.

That's the work I do through leadership coaching, workshops, and manager development.

If that would be helpful for you or your organization, reply to this email. I'd be glad to talk.