This is a Lean Sigma tool that is both very easy to use and very effective.

For those of you who have faced the dreaded ‘Toddler Inquisition’ you will already be familiar with the concept of The 5 Whys:

Daddy, what is rain?

It is the water that comes down from the clouds.

Why?

The clouds are made of water.

Why?

The sun shines down on all the rivers and oceans and causes water to rise up into the sky to be made into clouds.

Why?

Because that is what water does when someting hot like the Sun heats it up.

Why?

Because that is how water is made.

Why?

Because….. Because… Isn’t it Tea Time?

In examining a business process, if a problem is identified and the explanation is then questionned with a ‘Why’ a point will eventually be reached when the definitive Root Cause of the problem will be identified.

The ‘Tea Time’ moment!