5 Whys

Benefit: Understand core reason
Prerequisites:

Description

By asking "why" multiple times, we can gain a deeper understanding of the root causes behind a high-level problem.

The goal is to land on a what or a how.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys

Practice

1. Identify an action or a problem (something you have done or plan to do).
2. Ask "why?"
3. Provide an answer.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you reach a root cause.

Example-1

1. I want to visit my mom every week.
2. Why do I want to visit my mom every week?

• Because I feel like she is going to pass away and I don't want to regret not being with her enough.

3. Why do I feel like I will regret that I wasn't with her enough?

• Because I feel like I need to make up for it.

4. Why do I feel like I need to make up for it?

• Because I've avoided her and acted bad towards her all my childhood.

5. Why did I avoid her and act poorly toward her throughout my childhood?

• Because I wanted to explore my sexuality, but she was so controlling that I felt I couldn't.

A1. Why was she so controlling?

• Because she was afraid that I would get pregnant.

A2. Why was she afraid that I would get pregnant?

• Because she never taught me anything about how sexuality works.

A3. Why didn't she teach that subject?

• Because she was raised in a society that forbade such talk.

B1. Why did I want to explore my sexuality?

• Because I experienced a surge of hormones as a teenager.

Extra

Feel free to use this tool for branching your thoughts.