To accelerate, Lean Startups need a process that provides a natural feedback loop. When you're going too fast, you cause more problems. Adaptive processes force you to slow down and invest in preventing the kinds of problems that are currently wasting time. As those preventive efforts pay off, you naturally speed up again.
为了加快速度，精益创业需要一个流程来提供自然的反馈回路。当你打算走得更快时，会引发更多问题。自适应流程使你放慢脚步，投入到防止浪费当下时间的问题上。当那些防患于未然的努力有了成效，速度自然就快了起来。
Let’s return to the question of having a training program for new employees. Without a program, new employees will make mistakes while in their learning curve that will require assistance and intervention from other team members, slowing everyone down. How do you decide if the investment in training is worth the benefit of speed due to reduced interruptions? Figuring this out from a top-down perspective is challenging. because it requires estimating two completely unknown quantities: how much it will cost to build an unknown program against an unknown benefit you might reap. Even worse, the traditional way to make these kinds of decisions is decidedly large-batch thinking. A company either has an elaborate training program or it does not. Until they can justify the return on investment from building a full program, most companies generally do nothing.
这里回到为新员工组织培训的问题上。如果没有培训过，新员工在学习过程中，请求其他团队成员的协助和介入时可能会犯错误，导致团队的速度变慢。你如何判断因为减少中断，对培训的投资有利于保持团队速度？自上而下地找出解决方案是有挑战的。因为它需要估算两个未知的量化因素：需要付出多大代价来搭建未知的流程来对抗未知的利益。更糟糕的是，做出决定的传统方法绝对需要大量的思考。公司要么接受过精细的培训，要么它没有。在能够从一个完整的项目中获得相应的回报之前，大部分企业通常不会有任何投入。
The alternative is to use a system called theFive why's to make incremental(增加的) investments and evolve a startup's processes gradually. The core idea of Five Whys is to tie investments directly to the prevention of the most problematic symptoms. The system takes its name from the investigative method of asking the question"Why?" five times to understand what has happened(the root cause). If you've ever had to answer a precocious(早熟的) child who wants to know" Why is the sky blue?” and keeps asking "Why? after each answer, you're familiar with it. This technique was developed as a systematic problem-solving tool by Taiichi ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System. I have adapted it for use in the Lean Startup model with a few changes designed specifically for startups.
另一个选择就是采用“五个为什么“系统来做增量投资，并逐步发展创业企业的流程。”五个为什么“的核心理念是把那些问题最大的企业症状与投资直接联系起来。系统命名正像是它的五个以为什么开头的问题那样，为了了解企业到底发生了什么（根本原因）。如果你曾经不得不回答一个早熟的孩子的问题，如“为什么天空是蓝色的？”，并不断在回答之后再问“为什么”，那你就很熟悉这种的情况。这个方法作为系统化的解决问题工具，是丰田生产系统的创始人大野耐一发明的。我已经在精益创业的应用模型上做了一些适应性调整。
At the root of every seemingly technical problem is a human problem. Five Whys provides an opportunity to discover what that human problem might be. Taiichi Ohno gives the following example:
每个看上去是技术层面的问题，实际上都是人力问题。“五个为什么”使企业有机会挖掘这些可能发生的人力问题。大野耐一给出了以下的例子：
When confronted with a problem, have you ever stopped and asked why five times?
当遇到一个问题，你是否曾经停下来问五次为什么？
It is difficult to do even though it sounds easy.
即使听起来很简单，也是很难做到的。
For example, suppose a machine stopped functioning:
例如，假设一个机器停止运转：
1.Why did the machine stop? (There was an overload and the fuse blew.)
2. Why was there an overload?(The bearing was not sufficiently lubricated.)
3. Why was it not lubricated sufficiently? (The lubrication pump was not pumping sufficiently.)
4. Why was it not pumping sufficiently? (The shaft of the pump was worn and rattling.)
5. Why was the shaft worn out? (There was nostrainer attached and metal scrap got in.)
1、 为什么机器停了？（因为机器超载，保险丝烧断了。）
2、 为什么机器会超载？（因为轴承的润滑不足。）
3、 为什么轴承会润滑不足？（因为润滑汞失灵了。）
4、 为什么润滑汞会失灵？（因为它的轮轴耗损了。）
5、 为什么润滑汞的轮轴会耗损？（因为杂质跑到里面去了。）
Repeating " why “five times, like this, can help uncover the root problem and correct it.
经过连续5次不停地问“为什么”，能帮助你找到问题的根因并调整过来。
If this procedure were not carried through, one might simply replace the fuse or the pump shaft.
如果整个流程没有追根究底走完，员工很可能只是换根保险丝或者轮轴了事。
In that case, the problem would recur within a few Months.
在这种情况下，同样问题会在几个月内再次发生。
The Toyota production system has been built on the practice and evolution of this scientific approach.
丰田生产系统是在科学方法优化和实践的基础上建成的。
By asking and answering"why"five times, we can get to the real cause of the problem, which is often hidden behind more obvious symptoms.
通过五次“为什么”的连续性问答，我们能够找到问题的真正原因，这些常常隐藏在明显的症状背后。
Note that even in Ohno's relatively simple example the root cause moves away from a technical fault(a blown fuse) and toward a human error (someone forgot to attach a strain过滤器)。This is completely typical of most problems that startups face no matter what industry they are in Going back to our service business example, most problems that at first appear to be individual mistakes can be traced back to problems in training or the original playbook for how the service is to be delivered.
请注意，即使在大野耐一的相对简单的例子中也是如此，根本原因不是技术故障（烧断的保险丝），而是指向人为错误（有人忘了安装应变过滤器）。这是大多数创业公司面临的典型问题，无论他们在哪个行业，最后都要回归到服务层面。例如，最初看起来大多数是个别错误的问题，可以追溯到培训问题，或是服务如何交付的原始剧本。
Let me demonstrate how using the Five Whys allowed us to build the employee training system that was mentioned earlier. Imagine that at IMVU we suddenly start receiving complaints from customers about a new version of the product that we have just released.
让我演示如何使用“五个为什么“系统来建立前面提到的员工培训体系。想象一下，在IMVU我们突然开始收到客户关于一个我们刚刚发布的新版产品的投诉。
A new release disabled a feature for customers. Why? Because a particular server failed.
新版本关闭了一个客户功能。为什么？
因为有一台特定服务器挂了。
Why did the server fail? Because an obscure subsystem was used in the wrong way.
为什么服务器会挂？
因为错误使用了一个隐藏的子系统。
Why was it used in the wrong way? The engineer who used it didnt know how to use it properl.
为什么会错误使用？
因为负责操作的工程师不知道如何正确使用。
Why didn't he know? Because he was never trained.
为什么他不知道？
因为他没有受过培训。
Why wasn't he trained? Because his manager doesn’t believe in training new engineers because he and his team are"too busy.”
为什么他没有受过培训？因为他的经理认为不需要培训新员工，他和他的团队“太忙了”。
What began as a purely technical fault is revealed quickly to be a very human managerial issue.
一个纯粹的技术故障很快揭示了这根本就是一个人为的管理问题。
Make a Proportional Investment
按比例投资
Here's how to use Five Whys analysis to build an adaptive(相应的) organization：consistently make a proportional investment at each of the five levels of the hierarchy. In other words, the investment should be smaller when the symptom is minor and larger when the symptom is more painful. We dont make large investments in prevention unless we re coping with large problems.
以下是如何使用“五个为什么“分析来构建一个自适应组织：始终按比例投资五个层次架构。换句话说，投资应该是症状较轻时较小，而较大时症状更痛苦。我们不做大比例的投资预防，除非我们要应对大问题。
In the example above, the answer is to fix the server change the subsystem to make it less error-prone educate the engineer, and, yes, have a conversation with the engineer's manager.
在上面的示例中，答案是修复服务器、更改子系统，使其不易出错，培训工程师，还有，是的，和工程师的经理谈一谈。
This latter piece, the conversation with the manager, is always hard, especially in a startup. When I was a startup manager, if you told me I needed to invest in training my people, I would have told you it was a waste of time. There were always too many other things to do. I'd probably have said something sarcastic讽刺的)like"sure，d be happy to do that- -if you can spare my time for the eight weeks it'll take to set up. That's manager-speak for "No way in hell.’’
而后半部分，与经理的谈话总是很难，特别是在创业公司。当我是一个创业公司的经理，如果你告诉我，我需要在培训上投入，我会告诉你这很浪费时间。总是有很多其他要做的事情。我可能说一些像“好的，我很高兴这样做- 如果你可以省出我的时间来做为期八天的准备。“这样的（带点讽刺的）话就是典型的经理式回应“绝对没门。”
That's why the proportional investment approach is so important。f the outage(中断供应) is a minor glitch(小故障) it's essential that we make only a minor investment in fixing it. Let's do the first hour of the eight-week plan. That may not sound like much, but it's a start. If the problem recurs, asking the Five Whys will require that we continue to make progress on it. If the problem does not occur again, an hour isnt a big loss.
这就是为什么按比例投资如此重要。中断供应是一个小故障，我们只需要进行一笔小额投资就能修复。一起做为期八周的第一个小时计划，这可能听起来不多，但这是一个开始。如果问题再次出现，“五个为什么”分析需要我们继续在这方面取得进展。如果问题再也不会发生，一小时不是什么大损失。
I used the example of engineering training because that was something I was reluctant to invest in at IMVU. At the outset of our venture, I thought we needed to focus all of our energies on building and marketing our product. Yet once we entered a period of rapid hiring, repeated Five Whys sessions revealed that problems caused by lack of training were slowing down product development. At no point did we drop everything to focus solely on training. Instead, we made incremental improvements to the process constantly, each time reaping incremental benefits. Over time, those changes compounded, freeing up time and energy that previously had been lost to firefighting and crisis management.
我用了工程培训的例子，因为这是我在IMVU不太愿意投资的内容。在我们的风险投资开始时，我认为我们需要把我们所有的精力都集中在产品生产和营销推广上。然而，一旦我们进入了一个快速的人员招聘时期，“五个为什么”对话重复表明，由于缺乏培训而导致的问题正影响到产品开发的速度。我们决不会放弃一切，只关注培训。相反，我们持续不断地对流程进行改进，每次都获得增量收益。随着时间的推移，这些变化更加复杂化，从而节省了之前用于紧急措施和危机管理的时间和能量。
Automatic Speed Regulator
自动速度调节器
The Five Whys approach acts as a natural speed regulator. The more problems you have, the more you invest in solutions to those problems. As the investments in infrastructure or process pay off, the severity and number of crises are reduced and the team speeds up again. With startups in particular, there is a danger that teams will work too fast, trading quality for time in a way that causes sloppy(草率的) mistakes Five Whys prevents that, allowing teams to find their optima(最理想的)pace.
“五个为什么”方法可以充当自然速度调节器。你遇到的问题越多，你就越需要投入解决这些问题。一旦对基础建设或过程的投资得到回报，危机的严重程度减轻，危机数量也会减少，团队速度再次提升。特别是创业公司团队工作太快会导致危机重重，交易质量因为时间的原因导致发生草率的错误。“五个为什么”阻止了这一点，允许团队找到他们的最优（最理想的）速度。
The Five Whys ties the rate of progress to learning, not just execution. Startup teams should go through the Five Whys whenever they encounter any kind of failure including technical faults, failures to achieve business results, or unexpected changes in customer behavior.
“五个为什么”将进步的速度与学习联系起来，而不仅仅只是执行。每当初创团队遇到失败时，包括技术故障、业务目标未达成或客户行为发生超预期变化，他们应该利用“五个为什么”解决问题。
Five Whys is a powerful organizational technique Some of the engineers i have trained to use it believe that you can derive all the other Lean Startup techniques from the Five Whys. Coupled with working in small batches, it provides the foundation a company needs to respond quickly to problems as they appear without over investing or over engineering
五个为什么是一种强大的组织方法论，经过我训练并使用这种方法的工程师们相信，你可以从中推导出所有其他的精益创业方法。再加上小批量运作，它能为需要快速响应问题的公司提供他们未过度投资或生产的依据。
THE CURSE OF THE FIVE BLAMES
五个火焰的曲线
When teams first adopt Five Whys as a problem- solving tool, they encounter some common pitfalls. We need systems like Five Whys to overcome our psychological limitations because we tend to overreact to what's happening in the moment. We also tend to get frustrated if things happen that we did not anticipate.
当团队首次采用“五个为什么”作为解决问题工具时，他们遇到了一些常见的陷阱。我们需要像“五个为什么”这样的系统来打破我们的心理限制，因为我们倾向于对目前发生的事情反应过度。如果我们没有预料到事情发生，我们也容易感到挫败。
When the Five Whys approach goes awry, I call it the Five Blames. Instead of asking why repeatedly in an attempt to understand what went wrong frustrated teammates start pointing fingers at each other, trying to decide who is at fault. Instead of using the Five Whys to find and fix problems, managers and employees can fall into the trap of using the Five Blames as a means for venting their frustrations and calling out colleagues for systemic failures. Although it's human nature to assume that when we see a mistake. it's due to defects in someone else’s department, knowledge, or character, the goal of the Five Whys is to help us see the objective truth that chronic problems are caused by bad process, not bad people, and remedy them accordingly.
当“五个为什么”方法出错时，我称之为“五个归咎”。不是为了反复询问出错的原因，队友感到沮丧不已并开始互相指责，试图找出谁有过错；更不是为了利用“五个为什么”找到背后的问题并解决它，经理和员工们由此可能掉入“五个归咎”的陷阱中，把它作为一种发泄挫折感或召集同事们处理系统性错误的手段。尽管，当我们发现错误的时候，假设是人为错误。“五个为什么”方法的目标是帮助我们看到客观事实，这是由于其他部门的固有缺陷、知识储备或性格造成的。发生慢性的问题不是因为错误的人，而是因为不良的流程，要一并做出相应补救。
I recommend several tactics for escaping the Five Blames The first is to make sure that everyone affected by the problem is in the room during the analysis of the root cause. The meeting should include anyone who discovered or diagnosed the problem including customer service representatives who fielded the calls, if possible. It should include anyone who tried to fix the symptom as well as anyone who worked on the subsystems or features involved. If the problem was escalated to senior management, the decision makers who were involved in the escalation should be present as well
我推荐几种避免“五个归咎“发生的策略。第一是确保在分析问题的根本原因时，受到影响的每个人都在现场。参加会议的人应包括任何发现或诊断出问题的人，如果可能的话，要包括派驻的客户服务代表；应包括任何尝试修复症状的人，以及任何工作涉及到子系统或功能的人。如果问题被提升至高级管理层，被影响的决策人也要在现场。
This may make for a crowded room, but it's essential In my experience, whoever is left out of the discussion ends up being the target for blame. This is just as damaging whether the scapegoat(替罪羔羊) is a junior employee or the CEO. When it's a junior employee, it's all too easy to believe that that person is replaceable. If the CEo is not present, it's all too easy to assume that his or her behavior is unchangeable. Neither presumption is usually correct.
这可能让房间很拥挤，但这是必不可少的。根据我的经验，无论谁被排除在讨论之外，最终会成为被责备的目标。无论替罪羊是否是一名初级员工或CEO，这都是一种损害。如果是初级员工，那很容易认为那个人可以被替换掉。如果CEo不在，这很容易认为他或她的行为难以改变。通常没有哪个推定是正确的。
When blame inevitably arises, the most senior people in the room should repeat this mantra: if a mistake happens, shame on us for making it so easy to make that mistake. In a Five Whys analysis, we want to have a systems-level view as much as possible
当归咎不可避免发生时，房间里最资深的人应该重复这个口头禅：如果有错误发生，我们应为如此容易发生这种错误感到羞耻。在“五个为什么“分析中，我们希望尽可能拥有一个系统化的视角。
Here's a situation in which this mantra came in handy Because of the training process we had developed at I MVU through the Five Whys, we routinely asked new engineers to make a change to the production environment on their first day. For engineers trained in traditional development methods, this was often frightening. They would ask, "What will happen to me if I accidentally disrupt or stop the production process? In their previous jobs, that was a mistake that could get them fired. At IMvU we told new hires. "If our production process is so fragile that you can break it on your very first day of work, shame on us for making it so easy to do so. " If they did manage to break it, we immediately would have them lead the effort to fix the problem as well as the effort to prevent the next person from repeating their mistake.
在这种情况下，这个口头禅就派上用场了。我们在IMVU培训流程中利用“五个为什么”开发了一套常规程序，叫工程师在新来的第一天修改生产环境。对于被培训过传统开发方法的工程师来讲，这往往是一件可怕的事。他们会问：“如果我不小心扰乱或停止了生产过程？我会怎么样？“在以前的工作中，他们会因为这个错误而被解雇。在IMvU，我们告诉新员工：“如果我们的生产过程如此脆弱不堪，你都可以在工作第一天就打破它，我们会为它这么容易被打破而感到羞耻。“如果他们确实设法打破它，我们马上会让他们带头努力修复问题，防止下一次出现同样的问题。”
For new hires who came from companies with a very different culture. this was often a stressful initiation, but everyone came through it with a visceral(发自肺腑的) understanding of our values. Bit by bit, system by system, those small investments added up to a robust product development process that allowed all our employees to work more creatively, with greatly reduced fear.
对于经历过不同公司文化的新员工而言，这往往是一个压力很大的开启方式。但每个人都经历过一次，会发自肺腑了解我们的价值观。慢慢地，通过一个又一个系统，那些小额投资形成了一个强健的产品开发流程，它允许我们所有员工更有创造性地工作，大量地减少工作中的恐惧。
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