Lean Six Sigma

Fundamentals
ISEE – 582 / 682
Tool Box / Activity
Cause and Effect & 5 Whys

Geethvee Devinen, Jui-Lun Li, Gavin Yu

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Quick Wake me ups

My father was born as a conjoined twin, but the
doctors managed to separate them at birth.

So I have an uncle, once removed.

A lumberjack once told me he’s cut down 27,572 trees.

“How do ya know exactly how many?” I asked.

“Easy. I keep a log.”

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What is it? - The 5 Whys

Devised by the Toyota motor company

Basic Idea: Find a potential root cause of problem or

deviation
1. Why did this problem or deviation accrue?
2. Ask a follow-on question.
3. Repeat until you understand the problem, or till
you find something you don’t know.
4. Generate solutions/start an analysis

Tips:
5. No need to stick to number 5
6. The 5 Whys can be used individually or as a part
of the Cause and Effect diagram
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Figure / Sample - The 5 Whys

Problem: Lots of absence staff who are line operators

WHY? Most of them are on sick leave

WHY? Workers do have back pain

They have to pick up heavy steel parts off

WHY?
of the floor

WHY? Steel parts often fall off the conveyor belt

Controller for the conveyor belt is lack of

WHY?
maintenance so workers can’t control the flow
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What is it? - Cause and Effect

▪ Fishbone or Ishikawa diagram.
▪ A visual tool used to logically organize
possible causes for a problem
▪ The interrelationships among the possible
causal factors are clearly shown.
▪ Brainstorm all the possible causes of the
problem.
▪ Keeps the team on track in an orderly way
(helps communication between team
members ).
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Figure / Sample - Cause and Effect

A customer received a bad tasting coffee
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Figure / Sample - Cause and Effect

Reasons for patients’ frequent hospital admissions
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Why use it?

5 Whys Cause and Effect diagram

Much faster to implement than the Cause and Effect Assists the project team in identifying multiple
diagram potential causes to a problem

Extremely effective, usually leads the team to a Provides a structured visual display of the cause and
potential root cause by the 5th Why effect relationship

Avoids the trap of “Eureka!” Sorts the potential factors into categories that aids in
further analyzation

Redirect the team onto the right track Helps the team to be more knowledgeable about the
process/problem
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When is it used? 5 Whys

Analyze phase ● Need to locate a potential root

cause of a relatively simple
problem
● Solve on the go
● Analyze heavily human involved
processes

Cause and Effect diagram

● The team is knowledgeable and

are experienced with the
process/service
● Establish potential theories before
empirical data analysis
● Sort factors to identify interactions
and relationships
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Benefits / Limitations - 5 Whys

Benefits Limitations
● Helps find a potential root cause of ● Very superficial, can only identify
a problem. one potential root cause at a time.
● Determines the relation between a ● Not robust, can only be applied on
root cause and a problem. relatively simple problems.
● Can be learned/done very quickly, ● Limited to the person’s current
does not require any statistical knowledge and biases
analysis skills. ● Not backed up by any data, does
● Prevents operational problems. not involve hypothesis testing,
regression or other analysis tools.
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Benefits / Limitations- Cause and Effect

Benefits Limitations
● Identifies multiple underlying ● Requires a diverse and
causes at once experienced team to be effective
● Gives the team an easy to ● Not a statistical result, every cause
understand visualization of the looks equally important
relationships between causes and ● Highly suggestive to individual
the effect opinions
● Encourages brainstorming and ● Messy diagram might be created if
offers greater understanding of the the problem is too complex, which
problem makes it hard to pinpoint root
● Cost effective causes
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Steps for Application - 5 Whys

▪ Assemble a team: gather a team with the required skills for the job and appoint someone
as a facilitator to keep the team priorities of the team in check.
▪ Define the problem by brainstorming with the team and make a chart with all the ideas
for it.
▪ Ask the first WHY, this should be considered when the team answers with a reason or
fact backing up their answer for the solution for the problem
▪ Ask the WHY 4 more times. Each time a new answer is given it is incorporated into step
3 and it is asked 4 more times. Each time the next why is framed based on the answer
given and supporting the next why.
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Steps for Application - Cause and Effect

▪ Define the effect clearly and what must be expected of it. This can be identified loosely or can be written down.
This will make the spine for the fishbone diagram where the effect sits at the right or left end based on the
team.
▪ Use brainstorming or step by step approach. The step by step approach is preferred, because of the
brainstorming method having its drawbacks. The 4 consecutive whys can be extremely helpful in this step to
get the best answers or possible ways to solve the problem.
▪ Identify the major causes and place them on the spine of the fishbone diagram separately so that the ways to
solve or apply the causes would be necessary for the effect to take place.
▪ Add the probable causes or the causes that lead up to the major causes to the branch( or the bone) of the
major cause to describe the possible causes that need to be overcome to solve said cause. And if any more
causes affect the sub causes, they can be listed in the same fashion. These chains or branches can be called
causal chains.
▪ Check for logical validity for each step by doing a step by step analysis and making sure that each step is valid
and backed up by reason.
▪ Based on the previous points check for completeness and if not rework based on said point for the section.
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Class Activity
5 Whys:
1. Why do we have class at 8AM??
2. Why is Chipotle better than Taco Bell? (or vice versa, no judgment here)
3. Why are the Dolphins sooooo bad?

Cause and Effect:

4. Titanic sank on its first voyage
5. Extremely difficult to purchase graphic cards currently
6. Not enough people are vaccinated
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Sources / References
balancedscorecard. (n.d.). Cause-and-effect diagram - test.balancedscorecard.org ... Basic Tools for Process Improvement.
Retrieved October 4, 2021, from http://test.balancedscorecard.org.tempdomain.com/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/c-ediag.pdf.

Gerardi, J. (2021, September 21). Fishbone diagram (cause and effect diagram). projectcubicle. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://www.projectcubicle.com/fishbone-diagram-cause-effect-diagram/.

Juran. (2020, July 20). The ultimate guide to cause and effect diagrams. Juran. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from
https://www.juran.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-cause-and-effect-diagrams/.

Gerardi, J. (2021, September 21). Fishbone diagram (cause and effect diagram). projectcubicle. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://www.projectcubicle.com/fishbone-diagram-cause-effect-diagram/.

Paradies, M. (2021, September 7). 5-why examples [the best and the worst!] leave a comment... TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis.
Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://www.taproot.com/best-5-why-examples/.
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The End - Thank you!