-
5 Whys
5
个为什么？
Quickly Getting to the Root of a
Problem
很快找到问题的根源
Why use the tool?
为什么用这个工具？
The 5
Whys is a simple problem-solving technique that
helps users to get to the root
of the
problem quickly. Made popular in the 1970s by the
Toyota Production System,
the 5 Whys
strategy involves looking at any problem and
asking:
caused this problem?
“
5
个为什么”是一种简单的解决问题的方法，用这种方法可以
帮您很快地找
到问题的根源。
20
世纪
70
年代，这种方法已广泛应用于
To
yota
的生产系统，
“
5
个为什么”就是无论遇到什么问题，都要问“为什么？”“是什么导致了
这
个问题？”。
Very often, the
answer to the first
the second
< br>通常，回答第一个“为什么”会引出下一个“为什么”，回答第二个“为什
么”又
会引出另一个“为什么”，如此这般，这就是“
5
个为什么”的
策略。
Benefits of the 5 Whys
include:
?
?
It helps to
quickly determine the root cause of a problem
It is easy to learn and apply
< br>“
5
个为什么”的优点：
?
可以帮助你快速确定问题的根本原因
?
学习和应用起来比较容易
How
to use the tool:
怎样使用这个工具：
When looking to solve a problem, start
at the end result and work backward (toward
the root cause), continually asking:
over until the root cause of the
problem becomes apparent.
遇到一个需要解决的问题时，
从结果入手，倒推原因（向着问题的根源推），
不断地问自己：“为什么？”
这个过程需要不断的重复，直到问题的根源暴露
出来。
Tip:
The 5 Whys technique is a simple
technique that can help you
quickly get
to the root of a problem. But that is all it is,
and the more
complex things get, the
more likely it is to lead you down a false
trail. If it
doesn
’
t quickly give you an
answer that
’
s obviously
right,
then you may need more
sophisticated technique problem solving
techniques.
建议：
<
/p>
“
5
个为什么”是一种帮助你快速找到问
题根源的简单的解决
问题的方法。但这种方法仅能应用到这种简单的问题上，随着
事情复杂程度的增加，这种方法非常可能导致你走入误区。如
果这样做
不能快速地给你一个明显正确的答案，那么你可能需
要更加复杂的解决问题的技巧。
Example:
例如：
Following is
an example of the 5 Whys analysis as an effective
problem-solving
technique:
下
面的内容就是将“
5
个为什么”的分析法有效应用于解决问题一
个例子：
1.
Why is our client, Hinson Corp.,
unhappy? Because we did not deliver our
services when we said we would.
为什么你的客户
HC
不开心？
因为我们没有按照当时说的提供我们的服
务。
2.
Why were
we unable to meet the agreed-upon timeline or
schedule for
delivery? The job took
much longer than we thought it would.
为什么我们不能按照已经商定的时间或者时间表交货？
因为这项工作花
费的时间比我们想象的要长很多。
3.
Why did it
take so much longer? Because we underestimated the
complexity
of the job.
为什么花这么长的时间？因为我们低估了这项工作的复杂程度。
4.
Why did we
underestimate the complexity of the job? Because
we made a
quick estimate of the time
needed to complete it, and did not list the
individual
stages needed to complete
the project.
为什么我们低估了这项工作的复杂程度？因为我们对所需时
间做的是一
个快速的粗略的估计，没有将每个独立阶段所需的时间都一一列出来。
5.
Why
didn't we do this? Because we were running behind
on other projects.
We clearly need to
review our time estimation and specification
procedures.
为什么我们没有这样做？
因为我们还在同时做着其他的项目。
显然我们
需要重新考虑我们的时间估计和步骤明细。
Key Points:
The 5 Whys
strategy is an easy and often-effective tool for
uncovering the root of a
problem.
Because it is so elementary in nature, it can be
adapted quickly and applied
to most any
problem. Bear in mind, however, that if it doesn't
prompt an intuitive
answer, other
problem-solving techniques may need to be applied.
关键点：
“
5
个为什么”的策略是一个简单而且有效的找到问题根源的工具。因为这个
方法本身非常的容易，（使用者）可以很快适应并且应用这种方法去解决大部
分的问题。
记住，尽管如此，如果这种方法不能找出很直接的
答案，可能需要
应用其他解决问题的办法了。
5 Why's
5
个为什么
The 5 why's typically refers to the
practice of asking, five times, why the failure
has occurred
in order to get to the
root cause/causes of the problem. There can be
more than one cause to
a problem as
well. In an organizational context, generally root
cause analysis is carried out by
a team
of persons related to the problem. No special
technique is required.
“
5
个为什么”的特点是养成问
5
次为什么会失败
，以求找到问题根源的的习惯。当然也有可
能不只一个原因。在一个组织环境中，通常，
问题分析是由与问题相关的一个团队来进行的。
An example is in order:
You
are on your way home from work and your car stops:
举个例子：
在下班回家的路上，你的车停了：
?
Why did your car stop?
Because it ran out of gas.
为什么你的车会停？
因为没油了
?
Why did it run out of
gas? Because I didn't buy any gas on my way to
work.
为什么没油了？因为我没有在去上班的路上买油。
?
Why didn't you buy any
gas this morning? Because I didn't have any money.
为什么我早上没有买油？因为我没钱。
?
Why didn't you have any
money? Because I lost it all last night in a poker
game.
为什么我没钱？因为我昨晚打扑克都输光了。
I hope you don't mind the
silly example but it should illustrate the
importance of digging down
beneath the
most proximate cause of the problem. Failure to
determine the root cause
assures that
you will be treating the symptoms of the problem
instead of its cause, in which
case,
the disease will return, that is, you will
continue to have the same problems over and
over again.
我希望你
不介意这么可笑的例子，但是它可以表明挖掘问题的近因背后的东西的重要性。不能
决定
问题的根源说明你在处理问题的症状而不是根源，在这种情况下，问题还会出现，也就是
说，相同的问题还是会一遍又一遍的出现。
Also note that the actual numbers of
why's is not important as long as you get to the
root
cause. One might well ask why did
you lose all your money in the poker game last
night?
还要说明的是，只要你找到了问题的根本原因
，“为什么”的具体次数不重要。可能有人会问
为什么你会在昨晚的扑克游戏中输光所有
的钱？
Here's
another example. I learned the example using the
Washington Monument used when
demonstrating the use of the 5 Whys.