Hi Coredilia, the 5 Whys is a solid starting point for digging into root causes, but once things get a bit more complex, it’s smart to explore other approaches.
Like that Root Cause Tree Analysis you stumbled across. That one’s great for when multiple factors are feeding into a problem rather than just one straight line of “why.”
Here are a few other methods people often use (sometimes even together):
Root Cause Tree Analysis → Think of it like a branching map of causes. Instead of going straight down like the 5 Whys, it fans out so you can see all the different contributing factors. Super helpful when the problem isn’t caused by just one thing.
Fishbone Diagram (aka Ishikawa) → This one’s great for brainstorming in a team. You categorize possible causes under themes like People, Process, Tools, etc. Visually, it looks like a fish skeleton—which is kind of weird, but it works!
Fault Tree Analysis → More technical and logic-based. It’s used in engineering and safety stuff. You start at the top with a failure, and work your way down using “AND” and “OR” logic to figure out what led to it.
Current Reality Tree (from Theory of Constraints) → If you’re dealing with messy, systemic issues and everything feels interconnected, this one helps you untangle that web and find the deeper root cause behind a bunch of different symptoms.
Pareto + 5 Whys Combo → Start by figuring out which problems are causing 80% of your issues (that’s the Pareto part), and then run 5 Whys on those. It’s a nice way to focus your energy on what matters most.
Hope this helps!
