When to use it
- An incident or delay keeps happening and nobody really knows why.
- You want to fix the cause, not just the symptom.
- You need a quick analysis without statistical tools.
How to do it, step by step
- Describe the problem factually (who, what, when).
- Ask “why did this happen?” and write down the answer.
- Ask “why?” again about that answer, and repeat.
- Stop when the cause is actionable (often after 3 to 5 whys, not a strict rule).
- Define a corrective action for that cause and check later that it worked.
Example
Problem: the delivery is one day late. Why? Testing failed late. Why? It only ran the day before. Why? Nobody was in charge of scheduling it. Action: add a scheduled test task to the sprint.
In FluidOps
In FluidOps' “Other tools” tab, fill in the board with your team, save it and export it as PNG or PDF.
Going further
- The Pre-Mortem Technique: Simulating Failure to Succeed
- Project tracking isn't (just) reporting - here's why