5W+H

The method pins down the context around a situation. It helps establish what everyone agrees on, and it helps pass an idea on without leaving out the details.

It goes back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and was adopted into the Toyota Production System for analysing problems.

When to use it

  1. When you need to gather facts about a situation you do not yet know.
  2. To establish the circumstances in which a problem arose.
  3. To plan what to do.
  4. To put together what you want to say to a particular group.

When not to use it

  1. When the situation has already been described.
  2. When you need the causes of a problem you already understand — see 5 Why and the Ishikawa diagram.

The questions

  • What?
  • How?
  • Why?
  • When?
  • Where?
  • Who?

Three orders to ask them in

  1. Investigation — looking back.
  2. Planning — projects and events.
  3. Start with Why — building a message out of what you value.

Investigation

Concentrate on agreeing one version of events with the team. Start with the question that matters most: what happened?

The order: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

Then fill in the answers from the easiest to the hardest, talking every cause through with the team.

The goal: used well, the tool should read like a wire-service report. Short, and clear about the circumstances of what happened.

Planning

You are planning a venture, so you have to establish what it rests on and where its edges are.

The order: What? Where? When? How? Why? Who?

Start by talking through WHAT is going to happen. Then settle, as precisely as you can, the place and the date — WHERE and WHEN.

With those in hand, go through the details: HOW it will be done, and WHY it is being done at all.

Once everything is clear, name the coordinators responsible for each part, and everyone else involved (WHO).

The goal: used well, the tool clears up any doubt about the scope of the venture and assigns responsibility for its parts.

Start with Why

You are trying to get an idea across. Start with Why. The first three questions are the important ones; the other three are optional.

The order: Why?, How?, What?, and then Who? Where? When?

Inspired by Simon Sinek's work (watch his talk).

Great leaders communicate their vision starting from WHY. That is how they connect with what their audience values.

Then they answer HOW — by what means, and what sets them apart. Then they answer WHAT they do. WHO, WHERE and WHEN sharpen the answer to WHAT.

The goal: used well, the tool delivers the information in one particular order — values > authority > information — and that is the order that carries an audience.

Use it in TeamKit