内容来源：https://lifehacker.com/work/the-5-whys-productivity-technique?utm_medium=RSS

内容总结：

“五问法”助你精准规划：告别无效计划，深挖问题根源

在追求高效工作的过程中，计划的重要性不言而喻，但许多人的计划却屡屡落空。为何精心制定的计划总难执行？一项源自日本制造业的经典方法——“五问法”，或许能为个人与团队的问题诊断提供清晰路径。

该方法的核心在于持续追问。当问题出现时，不要止步于表面原因，而是连续追问五个“为什么”，层层深入，直至揭示问题的根本症结。例如，若“未能按时清理餐厅”导致家人无法正常用餐，通过五次追问，可能发现根源在于“未提前向销售部门明确数据提交截止时间”，从而引发了一系列连锁反应。

应用“五问法”并不拘泥于形式。无论是个人自省、家庭讨论，还是团队协作，均可适用。关键在于清晰定义问题，并坚持追问到底。找到根本原因后，往往只需一个微小但关键的调整——例如提前沟通截止时间——就能有效预防大问题的发生。

需要注意的是，“五问法”并非机械的数字游戏。有时五轮追问未必能触及核心，也可能发现责任不在自身。其真正价值在于转变思维模式，培养追溯根源的习惯。当人们学会逆向剖析问题，便能更快速地锁定关键，从而调整计划、优化流程，最终实现效率的实质提升。

通过这种结构化追问，将大任务拆解为可管理的小步骤，并优先处理那些影响深远的关键行动，未来的计划将更加可靠，工作与生活的平衡也更容易实现。

中文翻译：

规划是保持高效的关键一环，但必须方法得当。要想成功，你需要先理清过往计划为何未能奏效。个人行动后复盘虽能帮你评估工作并提升效率，但要真正洞悉问题根源并为未来做好准备，仍需深入挖掘。此时不妨尝试"五问法"直指问题核心。

何为"五问法"？
首先需要了解，这种效率管理方法源自日本著名的工厂管理体系，与5S管理法、三现主义等一脉相承。其核心在于：锁定问题后连续追问五次"为什么"，最终揭示问题的根本症结，从而明确改进方向。

如何运用"五问法"解决问题
某些场景下需要组建团队进行头脑风暴，但若是个人问题则无需拘泥形式。你的"智囊团"可以是论坛网友、好友群聊，家庭事务可与家人商议。工作问题若涉及同事，务必邀请他们参与讨论。即使没有团队支持，这个方法依然适用。

无论是否借助团队，关键都在于准确定义问题。请清晰简洁地陈述问题，最好书面记录。假设问题是"未能及时清理餐厅导致全家只能在吧台用餐"，可简化为"我未按时整理餐厅"。

接着开始连续追问：
第一问：为什么？写下答案（例如"我临时接到工作电话"）
第二问：为什么？（"需要完成老板要求的报告"）
第三问：为什么？（"缺少销售部门提供的数据"）
第四问：为什么？（"销售部门不了解我的截止时间"）
第五问：为什么？（继续深挖根本原因）

经过五次追问，最终答案往往像多米诺骨牌般揭示了问题源头。解决这些深层症结能有效预防更大问题。例如上述案例可得出对策："今后开展项目时将提前与各部门沟通截止时间和需求"。下次制定计划时，就应列入"与销售部门确认数据提交截止时间"这一具体事项。

许多效率工具（如ABCDE分类法、任务拆解法）都倡导将大目标分解为小步骤，而第五问的答案往往正是能轻松融入这些体系的关键小节。但需注意优先排序——可借鉴MIT要事法则，根据事项对生活的影响程度安排优先级。就像通知销售部门截止时间这个举手之劳，却能为你赢得整理餐厅、共享天伦的宝贵时间。

需要注意的是，经过五轮追问后，根本原因未必总能水落石出。比如案例中，或许本不该由你向销售部门传达截止时间，而是相关负责人出现疏漏，或是该团队未及时查收邮件。此时可能需要系统性调整工作流程。"五问法"并非僵化教条，而是通过转变思维模式，帮助我们精准定位问题根源。当养成逆向追溯的习惯后，你就能快速剖析问题，从而更高效地优化未来规划。

英文来源：

Planning is a key part of staying productive, but it has to be done right. To succeed, you need to understand why previous attempts at planning didn’t pan out. Conducting a personal after-action review is one way to assess your work and determine how to be more efficient, but to truly understand what went wrong and prepare for the future, you need to dig deep. Try the “Five Whys” technique to get to the bottom of things.
What is the “Five Whys” technique?
You should know, first of all, that this is yet another productivity protocol that springs from Japan’s famed factory system, like the 5S and 3M techniques. With this one, once you identify a problem, you’re going to ask, “Why?” five times, which will ultimately reveal the true root cause of the issue—and what you need to focus on fixing.
How to use “Five Whys” for problem solving
Some variations of the technique call on you to assemble a team for brainstorming before doing this, but if you’re assessing a personal issue, that part isn't necessary. Your “team” can be the people posting on forums about the problem, for instance, or a group chat with your friends. If the issue is a household one, chat with your family. This doesn’t have to be super formal, but if the problem is one related to work and you do have coworkers involved, bring them into the discussion. In some cases, there may be no team at all—but that doesn't mean you can't use the Five Whys.
Whether you’re consulting a team or not, the real work begins when you define the problem. State it clearly and concisely. Ideally, write it down. Let's say the problem is you didn’t get the dining room clean in time for dinner, so everyone had to eat at the counter. Simplify that to, “I didn’t clean the dining room on time.”
Next, ask, “Why?” Write down the answer—maybe it's “I had to take a phone call from work.”
Ask, “Why?” Write down the answer and ask again. Then again, again, and again, until you’ve asked five times. So, your paper might look like this: I didn’t get the dining room clean > I had to take a phone call from work > I didn’t finish the reports my boss wanted > I didn’t have the data I needed from the sales department > The sales department was not aware of my deadline.
When you’re finished digging into the problem, you can see how the answer to the last “Why?” caused a domino effect that led to the original issue. Fixing these more granular problems will ultimately help prevent bigger ones. So, in this case, write down, “I will communicate deadlines and needs with other departments at work early on when working on a project.” The next time you have a project to do, when you’re planning out your to-dos around it, be sure to include, “Communicate with the sales department about the deadline for the data.”
There are plenty of productivity and scheduling apps that call on you to break your larger tasks down into smaller ones, like ABCDE or turning your responsibilities into "bites," and it's likely that the solution to your fifth Why will be something small enough to easily slot into one of those. Make sure you prioritize whatever that small step is, however. Use an approach like the MIT technique to prioritize your to-dos around their impact on your life. In this case, letting the sales team know about your deadline is a small task with a big impact, as it could have cleared the way for you to clean the dining room and enjoy a nice meal with your family.
Bear in mind that root causes aren’t always evident after five rounds of “Why?” For instance, maybe it’s not your job to communicate your deadline to the sales department. Maybe the person who was supposed to do that messed up or the people on that team didn’t check their emails. In that case, overhauling your protocols at work might be the answer. The “Five Whys” aren’t concrete; they’re a way to change your thinking around problems so you can easily identify their root causes and address those. Once you get in the habit of asking why and working backward, you’ll be able to do this quickly and alter your future plans more efficiently.