Five Whys Root Cause Analysis

What it does

Drilling from surface symptoms to root causes by iteratively asking why a problem occurred.

Procedure

When this skill is activated, Chalie follows these steps:

1. Use memory to recall any relevant background or previous analysis on this issue.
2. State the problem clearly as a single observable symptom or failure, then open document to capture the Why chain.
3. Ask “Why did this happen?” and record the first-level cause in document.
4. For each answer, ask “Why?” again and record each level in document until reaching a systemic or process-level root cause (typically 4-6 iterations).
5. When multiple branches of causes emerge, use document to trace each branch separately — capture all paths to prevent missed root causes.
6. Use search to validate the root cause against known patterns, documentation, or prior incidents.
7. Propose solutions that address the root cause rather than the surface symptom — confirm plausibility via search if the domain is technical or specialised.
8. Use document to save the complete 5 Whys chain and proposed solutions for future reference.

Version

v1 (curated)