Five Whys Root Cause Analyzer

Apply Five Whys rigorously to trace issues to root causes and define durable corrective actions. USE WHEN a task matches the Craft workspace workflow for five-whys-root-cause-analyzer.

Sheshiyer Updated

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Five Whys Root Cause Analyzer

Use this skill for structured root-cause analysis when users report recurring problems or unclear failures.

Trigger Conditions

  • User asks for root cause analysis
  • User mentions recurring issue or repeated failure
  • User asks to apply Five Whys

Required Inputs

  1. Problem statement
  2. Symptoms and evidence
  3. Timeline/context of occurrence
  4. Stakeholders/systems involved

Workflow

  1. Problem definition: state issue in observable, measurable terms.
  2. Five Whys chain: ask successive why questions with evidence checks.
  3. Root cause validation: test if cause explains repeated symptoms.
  4. Corrective actions: design fixes at system/process level.
  5. Prevention plan: define controls and monitoring.

Output Format

  • Problem statement
  • Five Whys chain
  • Confirmed root cause(s)
  • Corrective + preventive actions (CAPA)
  • Verification checklist

Guardrails

  • Don’t stop at superficial or person-blame causes.
  • Require evidence at each why step.
  • Include system-level prevention measures.

Sheshiyer/skill-clusters/tree/main/skills/five-whys-root-cause-analyzer commit e9eb483fcf

Frequently asked questions

npx skillmds@latest add sheshiyer/five-whys-root-cause-analyzer