There are a lot of parallels between the beautiful simplicity of Japanese art and the simple, yet strikingly powerful business management ideas employed by Japan’s great business thinkers. Kaizen, Gemba walks, Hoshin Kanri, and other principles and techniques introduced to the west by Toyota and other Japanese manufacturing companies re like art in that they are elegantly uncomplicated but profoundly effective.

The 5 Whys is an approach to problem solving that belongs in this camp.