1. Home
  2. Free courses
  3. Thinking Lab
  4. Thinking methods
  5. Ask why until it is actionable

Thinking method · Goldratt, The Goal

Ask why until it is actionable

Following a symptom back to something you could actually change. A problem that keeps coming back after being fixed.

Free — no account needed to read

Following a symptom back to something you could actually change.

The steps

  1. State the symptom as an observation, not a judgement.
  2. Ask what produced it. Write the answer.
  3. Ask again of that answer. Repeat four or five times.
  4. Stop when the answer is something changeable — NOT when it is something blameable.
  5. Check the chain forwards: does each cause really produce the next?

When to use it

A problem that keeps coming back after being fixed.

What it will not do

Most chains want to stop early at a person being careless. That is where it stops being useful.

Where it comes from: Goldratt, The Goal. Described in our own words.

The module it belongs to

  • Problem Solving — Break complex problems into manageable parts

Previous: Decomposition that does not overlap

Next: Find the constraint first

This is part of Thinking Lab, a free course on My Full Journey. Reading every lesson is free with no account. A free account adds saved progress, private answers and practice with your own life in Thinking Lab. See every free course.