ROI 【🔏CLASSIFIED CASE FILE】 No. X004 | What is 5W1H

Detective's Note: Six interrogative words "5W1H" encountered in every scenario from newspaper articles to project proposals, meeting facilitation to problem-solving. The combination of Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How reportedly possesses the power to organize chaotic information in an orderly manner. However, a puzzling phenomenon has been reported where many people "think they know" yet cannot harness its true power. Determine the identity of this most fundamental thinking framework and why it remains so universal yet profound.

What is 5W1H - Case Overview

5W1H (Who/What/When/Where/Why/How), which can be traced back to ancient Greek rhetoric. This thinking technique, established as a fundamental principle of journalism, now serves as the foundation for information organization and problem-solving across all fields. Among our clients, it's recognized as "the basics of thinking," yet systematic utilization methods are often poorly understood.

Investigation Memo: Information perspectives through six interrogative words. Seemingly simple, but the comprehensiveness and structuring power of this combination becomes a powerful weapon for unraveling complex problems. We need to explore why something so fundamental remains so effective.

Basic Structure of 5W1H - Evidence Analysis

Primary Evidence: The Six Elements of 5W1H

Who - Subject/Stakeholders

"Who is the agent of action?"
"Who are the related stakeholders?"
"Who are the responsible parties/assignees?"
"Who will be affected?"

What - Object/Content

"What will be done?"
"What is the problem?"
"What is the goal?"
"What happened?"

When - Time/Timing

"When will it be implemented?"
"When must it be completed?"
"When did it start?"
"What frequency will it occur?"

Where - Location/Scope

"Where will it be implemented?"
"What scope will be affected?"
"Which markets/regions are targeted?"
"Which departments/organizations are involved?"

Why - Reason/Purpose

"Why is it necessary?"
"Why did the problem occur?"
"Why choose that method?"
"What is the fundamental purpose?"

How - Method/Means

"What method will be used?"
"What process will be followed?"
"What scale will be implemented?"
"What procedures will be followed?"

Evidence Analysis: 5W1H's excellence lies in being natural perspectives aligned with human thinking patterns. Whether receiving or transmitting information, logical organization becomes possible with these six viewpoints. Moreover, it's designed so that missing any one element clearly reveals information incompleteness.

5W1H Implementation Procedure - Investigation Methods

Investigation Finding 1: Utilization in Information Gathering Phase

Case Evidence (New Product Development Project):

Who: Product Manager Tanaka, 5-member development team,
     Marketing Department Yamada, External Designer Sato
What: Smartwatch new feature development
When: June 2025 start, December end release planned
Where: Tokyo headquarters development department, partner company (Osaka)
Why: Response to competitor catch-up, market share maintenance
How: Agile development methodology, monthly reviews,
     3 user testing sessions

Investigation Finding 2: Utilization in Problem Analysis

Case Evidence (Customer Satisfaction Decline Problem):

Who: Sales Department Branch A, customers (Manufacturing Companies B, C, D)
What: Complaints due to delivery delays, satisfaction score decline
When: Increased frequency from April 2025, concentrated at month-end
Where: Kanto area, especially Saitama and Gunma customers
Why: Factory production capacity shortage, suboptimal personnel allocation
How: Production plan review, securing subcontractors,
     progress management system implementation

Investigation Finding 3: Utilization in Project Planning - Clarifying each element improves project specificity and feasibility - Prevents omissions and enables consensus among stakeholders - Particularly clarifying Why (purpose) validates means appropriateness

The Power of 5W1H - Hidden Truths

Critical File 1: Ensuring Comprehensive Thinking While human thinking tends toward bias, using the 5W1H framework prevents overlooking important perspectives. Particularly powerful for discovering blind spots in familiar operations.

Critical File 2: Improving Communication Precision Most ambiguous instructions or unclear reports result from missing one of the 5W1H elements. Being conscious of this framework dramatically improves transmission accuracy.

Critical File 3: Structuring Problem-Solving Even seemingly complex problems reveal their essence when broken down through 5W1H. Particularly, deep-diving Why directly connects to root cause identification.

Critical File 4: Enhancing Project/Proposal Persuasiveness Projects with clear 5W1H are easier for audiences to understand and judged as highly feasible. Significantly improves investment decision and approval acquisition probability.

5W1H Limitations and Precautions - Potential Dangers

Warning File 1: Mechanical Application Trap Mechanically filling 5W1H as a mere checklist doesn't lead to deep thinking. Utilization considering relationships and priorities among elements is important.

Warning File 2: Neglecting Why Cases where focus on organizing factual relationships from Who to How neglects deep-diving Why (purpose/reason). Purpose clarification is often the most important element.

Warning File 3: How Detail Insufficiency Cases where What is clear but How remains abstract and difficult to execute. Detailed specification down to concrete action levels is necessary.

Warning File 4: Static Perspective Cases where 5W1H is treated as fixed once organized, neglecting reviews according to situational changes. Particularly When and How require frequent adjustments.

5W1H Applications and Related Methods - Related Case Files

Related Evidence 1: 5W2H (Adding How Much)

How Much = budget/cost/quantity
Effective for more concrete execution planning
Utilized in project management and investment decisions

Related Evidence 2: 5W3H (Adding How Much + How Many)

How Many = scale/frequency/duration
Utilized for quantitative goal setting and effect measurement

Related Evidence 3: Integration with Logic Trees

Structuring 5W1H-organized information with logic trees
Why → cause analysis, How → systematizing solutions

Related Evidence 4: Combination with MECE (Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive) Principle

Organizing each W・H element according to MECE
Structuring information without overlap or omission

Related Evidence 5: Report/Proposal Templates

Document formats with 5W1H as basic structure
・Overview (What)
・Background/Purpose (Why)
・Implementation Body (Who)
・Schedule (When)
・Implementation Location/Scope (Where)
・Implementation Method (How)

Conclusion - Investigation Summary

Detective's Final Report:

5W1H is "the foundation of thinking foundations," yet surprisingly few understand and utilize its true value. Within the simple structure of six interrogative words, an information organization mechanism optimized for human cognitive capabilities is embedded.

The most impressive finding in this investigation was the "universality" of 5W1H. From newspaper articles to business plans, daily conversation to academic papers, this framework functions across all information transmission scenarios. This is not coincidental but because it aligns with natural thinking patterns humans use to understand and organize information.

However, the danger that many people end with "thinking they know" also became apparent. 5W1H's true value lies not in simply filling six items but in understanding relationships among elements and particularly deep-diving Why.

Additionally, 5W1H functions as the foundation for other thinking frameworks. Whether reflecting with KPT, analyzing with SWOT, or running PDCA, 5W1H perspectives are utilized at each stage. It truly deserves to be called the "mother framework of thinking techniques."

Information Organization Maxim: "Complex problems can always be broken down into simple structures through appropriate questioning."

Case Closed