The Kipling Method of Problem Analysis

A Portrait of Kipling by John Collier (c. 1891), Public Domain

Once a problem has been identified and defined, the next step is to analyse the problem to determine the root causes. A good starting point is to identify 'what is' and 'what isn't' in relation to the problem. For example, the problem may happen at particular times of the day and not at other times. Time is not the only possible factor and Rudyard Kipling identified five other factors in his poem I Keep Six Honest Serving Men from The Elephant's Child (one of the Just So Stories):

I Keep six honest serving-men:
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are What and Where and When
And How and Why and Who…

Examples — and these are by no means exhaustive — of how to use the 'six serving-men' in problem-solving are:

• What is the size of the problem?
• Where does it happen?
• When does it happen?
• How does it happen?
• Why does it happen?
• Who is involved?

The method does not have to be restricted to the analysis phase of problem-solving. For example:

'What', 'Where', 'When' and 'Who' are useful for defining the problem. 'How' can be used in generating potential solutions and 'Who' is important for asking who should be advised about the solution and who should be involved in its implementation.