FROM DILIP MUKERJEA'S ITINERANT TOOLBOX: QUESTIONING

[continue from the Last Post]

Sometimes, we could have observed conditions or behaviours that are both symptoms as well as causes. Mostly though, they are separate phenomena, at two ends of a chain reaction that erupts from a finite cause.

How can we be certain that we are working on a symptom and not a cause? A simple, yet formidable method for addressing this issue is called The FIVE Whys. It enables us to test for a problem or a symptom, and sometimes there is a bonus: we find the cause as well.

First, state the problem, then ask “why” it is occurring. Now ask “why” four more times.

Example:

1 Why has the engine stopped?

Because there was no fuel being supplied.

2 Why was there no fuel being supplied?

Because the fuel supply valve was suddenly shut off.

3 Why was the fuel supply valve shut off?

Because the technician shut it.

4 Why did the technician shut it?

He meant to shut off another valve adjacent to it.

5 Why did such a mistake occur?

Because it was mistakenly labelled.

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mystery of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structures of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."

~ Albert Einstein (1879–1955), German-American physicist

Correct labelling of the valves solves the problem and prevents its recurrence for the stated cause. There could of course, have been another reason or reasons for the engine having stopped. We simply follow the same procedure, with a change in the cause at Step 2.

For example, the fuel could have been supplied, but perhaps there was a blockage or a rupture in the fuel supply line.

another scenario:

Angela: "I need a new fridge."

Philip: "Why do you need a new fridge?"

Angela: "Because all the stuff I put in doesn’t stay fresh."

Philip: "Why doesn’t anything stay fresh?"

Angela: "Because the temperature inside the fridge is too high."

Philip: "Why is the temperature too high? "

Angela: "Because the door gasket is shredded."

Philip: "Why don’t you get the gasket renewed?"

Angela: "Because I don’t know whom to contact!"

Angela wants a new fridge simply because the door gasket needs to be renewed! Locating a repair company that can renew the old door gasket solves the problem.

The act of rephrasing the problem situation and reflecting it back in the form of a “Why?” enables you to get to the essenceof a problem.

It has been said that the logical mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes the creative mind to spot wrong questions.


[To be continued in the Next Post. Excerpted from 'Surfing the Intellect: Building Intellectual Capital for a Knowledge Economy', by Dilip Mukerjea. All the images in this post are the intellectual property of Dilip Mukerjea.]