The 5 Whys Canvas

What is this canvas?

The 5 Why’s is a problem-solving technique used to identify the root cause of an issue or challenge. Its core purpose is to ask "why" repeatedly (typically five times) to dig deeper into the underlying reasons behind a problem, enabling businesses to address the actual root cause rather than symptoms when brainstorming around problems.

Why use this canvas?

The 5 Whys approach is a simple but powerful method to approaching problem identification, by identifying the root cause of a problem and the subsequent symptoms that arise as other problems. In theory, by solving the root cause, other symptomatic problems will also be accounted for.

Tip:You do not need to stick to asking “Why?” 5 times only! Go beyond or less – the goal is to uncover the root cause in order to effectively address the problem.