Another phenomenal manufacturing technique bastardised and ruined by mediocre software consultants.
It's a practical tool, not psychotherapy for engineers. You're not supposed to go namby-pamby hands-in-the-air "it's the culture!" after asking why five times. You are supposed to figure some automation to implement, some tool to build that will help fix a recurring problem for good.
Example:
Manager: Power costs at the plastics plant are way too high!
Engineer 1: Why are we using all that power?
Engineer 2: I figured out we have this press that eats a bunch of electricity all the time.
Engineer 1: Why's that one press so power-hungry?
Engineer 2: It needs to be operated at a super high temperature so it uses all that power to keep warm.
Engineer 1: Why's it wasting power to keep warm? Can't it keep temperature?
Engineer 2: The thing's out in the open and the building is air conditioned, so there's constant heat transfer to the environment. And I found an A/C vent pointed directly at it.
Manager: So we're wasting power on heat and cold! Good Lord! Can't we build a box around that press?
Engineer 1: Good point, George thought of that a while ago but no one's gotten to it I guess.
Manager (to now promoted Joint Chiefs of Ass-Kicking Question Making): Great! Get to it!
It's not rocket science. Everyone knows things stink and you can't get anything done at this stupid place etc etc. You either keep busy tending to the garden or you move on.
EDIT: To answer some other comments the original Toyota technique even included ways to explore multiple causes and other such complexities 50 years ago. It's ironic that lean software gurus can't even copy/paste properly. I would hope they read more books before writing their next one.
It's a practical tool, not psychotherapy for engineers. You're not supposed to go namby-pamby hands-in-the-air "it's the culture!" after asking why five times. You are supposed to figure some automation to implement, some tool to build that will help fix a recurring problem for good.
Example:
Manager: Power costs at the plastics plant are way too high!
Engineer 1: Why are we using all that power?
Engineer 2: I figured out we have this press that eats a bunch of electricity all the time.
Engineer 1: Why's that one press so power-hungry?
Engineer 2: It needs to be operated at a super high temperature so it uses all that power to keep warm.
Engineer 1: Why's it wasting power to keep warm? Can't it keep temperature?
Engineer 2: The thing's out in the open and the building is air conditioned, so there's constant heat transfer to the environment. And I found an A/C vent pointed directly at it.
Manager: So we're wasting power on heat and cold! Good Lord! Can't we build a box around that press?
Engineer 1: Good point, George thought of that a while ago but no one's gotten to it I guess.
Manager (to now promoted Joint Chiefs of Ass-Kicking Question Making): Great! Get to it!
It's not rocket science. Everyone knows things stink and you can't get anything done at this stupid place etc etc. You either keep busy tending to the garden or you move on.
EDIT: To answer some other comments the original Toyota technique even included ways to explore multiple causes and other such complexities 50 years ago. It's ironic that lean software gurus can't even copy/paste properly. I would hope they read more books before writing their next one.