Five Whys Root-Cause Finder
Drill past symptoms to the real root cause of any problem with a guided "why?" chain — up to five levels deep, with evidence at every step — then target your fix at the cause, not the symptom.
Be specific and factual. "Sales dropped 30% in Q3" beats "sales are bad." Include what happened, and when.
Step 2 — Ask why, up to five times
Each "why" digs one level below the previous answer. Back every answer with evidence — facts, data, observations — not guesses. The app will nudge you if an answer looks like a restatement or a guess.
Step 3 — Confirm the root cause
A real root cause passes two tests: (1) fixing it would prevent the problem from recurring, and (2) it points to something you can actually change — a process, a decision, a habit.
Step 4 — Countermeasure plan
Fix the root cause, not the symptom. Each countermeasure needs an owner and a way to verify it worked.
Root-Cause Report
Go Deeper
Root-cause thinking is systems thinking. Systems Thinking Made Simple by Kimani Upshur, M.Ed. teaches you to see the structures behind recurring problems in plain English.