# Five Whys Technique The Five whys (5 whys) is a technique that can be used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem, goal, decision or idea. The main goal of this technique is to uncover the root causes, reasons or motivations for something. This technique can be for solving problems (i.e., trying to fix the root causes rather than just the symptoms), making better life decisions (i.e., understanding the deeper truths/motivations). The idea is simple: ask "why?" five times. Each repetition of the question helps get closer and closer to the "truth", what lies beneath the surface. ## History Similar approaches have been used for thousands of years. There are examples from [[Plato]]'s [[Meno]], [[Aristotle]], ... ## Related - [[Root-cause analysis (RCA)]] - [[Why Test]] - [[Work on your list of why's]] ## References - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_whys