Some of you might recognize the above not as a lament but as the Five Whys – a method used for root cause analysis. The idea is that you need to ask “why” at least five times in order to get to the root cause of a problem. Having worked in and around manufacturing most of my adult life, this was one of the tools I learned that carries over into other aspects of life.

When our washing machine stopped working, I couldn’t answer the question why, so I called in a repairman to take a look at it. He pronounced that the motor was burned out. The cost he quoted wasn’t outlandish, so I okayed him ordering a replacement. A few days later, a different repairman showed up with the new motor and installed it. He then called me down to inform me that the new motor would burn out soon just like the old one. Why? Because the transmission was shot. Why? It had lost all its fluid. The first repairman neglected to ask why even a second time.