Every Monday, I will publish a simple exercise that you can perform with little or no preparation to help you find creative balance. These creativity calisthenics will get the creative juices flowing and open your thinking to a growth mindset.

The 5 Whys technique

The 5 Whys technique is a simple but effective way for you to explore your thoughts. Taking only a few minutes, it gets to the root causes and your motivations by cross-examining your reasoning. 

Here’s how the 5 Whys technique works:

1. Write down your initial statement. Keep it as short as possible and limited to a single sentence. This statement can be just about anything:

   1. A statement of fact: The sky is blue.

   2. A statement of opinion: The sky is beautiful today.

   3. A goal you are pursuing: I want to learn how to fly.

   4. A problem you are tackling: I am afraid of flying.

   5. Something you want to do: I want to travel around the world.

2. Under that, write “Why?”.

3. Under that, answer the question to the best of your ability and as honestly as possible. Your answers should also be as short and limited to a single sentence. Avoid using “and” in your answer, since that generally means you are giving two answers.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 four more times, responding to your previous answer while keeping your main statement in mind.

By your fifth why answer, you should have developed a clearer understanding of your root motivations, which is critical for helping you address the initial statement. 

You can do the 5 Whys technique with a paper and pen or with a word processor, but it helps to be able to write down your responses so that you can look back at them while you are working and remember them later. 

While this exercise can be done alone, it is also highly effective to use with a group, where the why answers can be discussed and agreed upon.

The 5 Whys in Action

Let’s take a look at an example where my team and I were trying to figure out where our product development went wrong, leaving a very dissatisfied client.

Statement: Our client is dissatisfied with the product we developed for them.

1. Why? — It doesn’t have some of the features they requested.
2. Why? — We didn’t budget enough time to develop the features.
3. Why? — The features were more complex than we had assumed.
4. Why? — We didn’t fully understand the scope of the work being asked for when budgeting our time.
5. Why? — We didn’t ask enough questions of the client at the beginning of the project.

So, the root cause was that we didn’t take enough time to properly understand the requested features, which led to us under-estimate the time it would take to create them. Understanding this root cause provides an obvious remedy for future products: make sure you have thoroughly understood the requirements before starting the project.

How I Use the 5 Whys in Coaching

I use the 5 Whys technique as a starting point in my Mindful Creativity Coaching practice to help both me and the person I am coaching not only better understand what they hope to get out of our coaching sessions but to explore their motivations for seeking coaching. I work with them to dig a bit deeper into their reasoning and help them find the words they need to better express themselves.

For example, a designer might come to me with the goal of becoming a lead designer. Taken at face value, this means we should talk about how to become a lead designer. After running through the 5 Whys exercise, though, we discover something far more important:

Statement: I want to become a lead designer.

1. Why? — I want to have a meaningful impact on project designs. 
2. Why? — So that people will know that they can trust my professional advice. 
3. Why? — So that I am a valued member of the team who has a reputation for solving complex issues.
4. Why? — I want to grow more confident in my own abilities.
5. Why? — I often feel that I am not living up to my full potential as a designer when compared to others.

Their root cause for wanting to be a design lead is that they lack confidence in their abilities as a designer — a possible sign of imposter syndrome — and believe becoming a lead designer will help them overcome that self-doubt. This changes the nature and dynamics of what we need to talk about to help them achieve their initial goal. Instead of how to become a lead designer, we first need to discuss how they can improve their perception of their skills and abilities, which is critical if they want to lead a design team.