Demonstration: 5W and 5 WHYs in Business Problems

In the previous segment, you came across different frameworks to help you structure the interviewing process. Here, you are provided with a case where you can apply your learnings and check whether what you have learnt is aligned with what is expected.

During the case, you will be asked to answer the questions in the video. You will be expected to use the 5W and 5 WHYs to understand the problem. So, let’s start with the case. In the following video, Amit will discuss a problem similar to what he encountered when he was working at an IT consulting firm.

As mentioned in the video above, the problem is associated with an  IT consulting firm, which delivers IT solutions to its clients. The process of client engagement is summarised below:

• The client approaches the sales team of the company to discuss the problem that the client is facing. (This could also be the other way around. The sales team may approach the clients as well.)
• The sales team and the technical experts of the company understand the problem of the client and propose a solution based on the discussions with the internal teams (the testing team and the delivery team).
• The client agrees to the proposed solution and enters into an agreement with the company, which lists the deliverables promised by the company, the timeline of the project, the payment amount, etc.
• The delivery team works on the solution and finally delivers it to the client.
• After the client verifies the solution, it pays the agreed amount to the company.

Now, the problem, as discussed in the video is that the clients are not willing to make the total payment that was promised in the agreement. This has been termed ‘revenue returns’, as a share of revenue is not received by the company. There can be multiple reasons for it, but before you start the process of interviewing, you need to have clarity about the problem. The next video discusses the 5W framework in the context of this problem. 

Now that you have the answers to the 5W, the next step is to figure out where the problem lies.

Due to the limitations, we have explored only two possible scenarios. In reality, there can be other problem areas as well. Let’s look at the first scenario, i.e., the sales- and customer-related issues.

In the video above, you can see that we started by asking the basic question: “Why is the percentage of revenue returns high?”. Gradually, in this case, we concluded that “the tech stack that we equipped was not suitable for the solution that was asked for by the clients”. (A tech stack can be considered the base over which the tech solution is built for the client.) You have identified a possible root cause.

However, you should not treat this as the end. It can be one of the many possible causes of the problem. Therefore, you need to validate your cause using the data available. After the interviewing process, you can treat this as one of the possible causes.

Moving forward to the second scenario, you can try to come up with a suitable chain of reasons and build a 5 WHYs framework of your own around the delivery side. Amit will share a possible chain with you in the following video.

So far, you have learnt about the process of interviewing. One important thing that should be clear in your mind is that interviewing is a data collection process. You should not generate a final hypothesis during one particular interview. The primary purpose of the interviewing process is to identify the key areas where the problem might exist and then collect data concerning them to test if the problem exists in that area or not. There are different stakeholders involved in any problem, and each of them could have a different perspective and points to contribute. For example, in the case above, where the company is facing the issue of revenue returns, it is possible that either the sales team or the delivery team is responsible for the problem. 

In the next session, you will come across another framework that can be helpful in interviewing: SPIN selling framework.