Ask ‘Why?’ Five Times To Get To The Root Of Any Problem

Ask ‘Why?’ Five Times To Get To The Root Of Any Problem

It can get annoying when a toddler asks “Why?” incessantly. But maybe they’re just trying to teach you something. The next time you have a complex problem, ask yourself “Why?” five times to get at the root of it.

Photo by Katie Sayer.

As business blog Entrepreneur explains, it’s easy to get focused on the surface-level problems we have in our work. Why are you so busy? Because I work too much. Except, your problems usually go a little deeper than that. By asking “Why?” to get down a few levels in your thinking, you can target root problems:

  1. Why can’t I get everything done at work? Because I have so much to do.
  2. Why do you have so much to do? Because I am getting pulled away from my priorities for other tasks.
  3. Why are you getting pulled away for other tasks? Because I’m the only one who knows how to do it.
  4. Why are you the only one who knows how to do it? Because no one else has been trained.
  5. Why has no one else been trained? Because we don’t have a cross-training program.

See how this transformed the type of solution you would use to fix the problem?

This concept can apply to most seemingly-insurmountable problems you have in your life, from your budget to your productivity to your relationships. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily make the solutions simpler (starting a cross-training program is harder than just working more), but it can help you stop spinning your wheels on solutions that don’t work.

How Asking ‘Why’ 5 Times Can Change Your Life [Entrepreneur]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments