Comments on: Weakend: The Five Whys http://weakonomics.com/2009/11/07/weakend-the-five-whys/ Everything That's Wrong With You And Your Money Wed, 23 May 2012 01:09:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Rob Bennett http://weakonomics.com/2009/11/07/weakend-the-five-whys/comment-page-1/#comment-3209 Rob Bennett Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:45:45 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=3331#comment-3209 <i>why? – Mortgage brokers were able to place people into homes they couldn’t normally afford. (fifth why, a root cause)</i> I suggest going three levels deeper to get to the true root cause: 6) Why? Because the stock market was valued at three times fair value, adding $12 trillion of funny money to the economy for a few years. 7) Why? Because The Stock-Selling Industry spent millions promoting Buy-and-Hold Investing, the "idea" that there is no need for investors to lower their stock allocations when stock prices get to insanely dangerous levels. 8) Why? Because The Stock-Selling Industry makes hundreds of millions of dollars when middle-class people come to believe that it's a reasonable idea to put most of their retirement money into stocks even at times when stocks offer a poor long-term value proposition. Rob .-= Rob Bennett´s last blog ..<a href="http://arichlife.passionsaving.com/2009/11/06/podcast-174-deferred-market-efficiency-what-it-is-what-it-signifies/" rel="nofollow">Podcast #174 — Deferred Market Efficiency: What It Is, What It Signifies</a> =-. why? – Mortgage brokers were able to place people into homes they couldn’t normally afford. (fifth why, a root cause)

I suggest going three levels deeper to get to the true root cause:

6) Why? Because the stock market was valued at three times fair value, adding $12 trillion of funny money to the economy for a few years.

7) Why? Because The Stock-Selling Industry spent millions promoting Buy-and-Hold Investing, the “idea” that there is no need for investors to lower their stock allocations when stock prices get to insanely dangerous levels.

8) Why? Because The Stock-Selling Industry makes hundreds of millions of dollars when middle-class people come to believe that it’s a reasonable idea to put most of their retirement money into stocks even at times when stocks offer a poor long-term value proposition.

Rob
.-= Rob Bennett´s last blog ..Podcast #174 — Deferred Market Efficiency: What It Is, What It Signifies =-.

]]> By: Shadox http://weakonomics.com/2009/11/07/weakend-the-five-whys/comment-page-1/#comment-3208 Shadox Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:58:30 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=3331#comment-3208 I agree with the need to be inquisitive and dive to the root cause of things, but I think that in your second example the answers aren't quite as simple, and I don't think you hit the root cause. For example, it could be asked why interests went up to begin with or why mortgage brokers could be in a position to sell unaffordable mortgages, or even why folks felt the need to buy houses they couldn't afford. At best your reasoning chain gave you a proximate cause, but in this specific situation I think you got only a small part of a very big and complex picture. .-= Shadox´s last blog ..<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/moneyandsuch/~3/F7WuMlxuiQ0/efficiency-and-effectiveness-in-hunting.html" rel="nofollow">Efficiency and Effectiveness in Hunting for a Job</a> =-. I agree with the need to be inquisitive and dive to the root cause of things, but I think that in your second example the answers aren’t quite as simple, and I don’t think you hit the root cause. For example, it could be asked why interests went up to begin with or why mortgage brokers could be in a position to sell unaffordable mortgages, or even why folks felt the need to buy houses they couldn’t afford.

At best your reasoning chain gave you a proximate cause, but in this specific situation I think you got only a small part of a very big and complex picture.
.-= Shadox´s last blog ..Efficiency and Effectiveness in Hunting for a Job =-.

]]> By: Finances on a 2-Year-Old Level http://weakonomics.com/2009/11/07/weakend-the-five-whys/comment-page-1/#comment-3207 Finances on a 2-Year-Old Level Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:52:12 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=3331#comment-3207 [...] Weakonomist sparked my interest today with this post on how asking “Why” five times can usually yield a (not the) root cause of [...] [...] Weakonomist sparked my interest today with this post on how asking “Why” five times can usually yield a (not the) root cause of [...]

]]> By: LeanLifeCoach http://weakonomics.com/2009/11/07/weakend-the-five-whys/comment-page-1/#comment-3206 LeanLifeCoach Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:58:15 +0000 http://weakonomics.com/?p=3331#comment-3206 Great post and great tool! It actually comes from Lean Management methods and was made famous by Taiichi Ohno of Toyota. A couple extra learning points: A) for each answer apply the 5whys. There can be more than one cause that needs to be addressed. B) the myth says 5 why's is the average, but for your situation you may need to ask more or less times. Great post and great tool! It actually comes from Lean Management methods and was made famous by Taiichi Ohno of Toyota.

A couple extra learning points: A) for each answer apply the 5whys. There can be more than one cause that needs to be addressed. B) the myth says 5 why’s is the average, but for your situation you may need to ask more or less times.

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