5W & 1H Framework

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

The first stanza of a short poem written by the British poet, Rudyard Kipling sums it all.

In the coaching and consulting space that I work in, a lot can be achieved by just framing your questions powerfully. Hence, I find the 5W & 1H framework most useful, for creating awareness in my coaching clients or for peeling the onion, so to speak, around relevant issues in consulting assignments.

I believe that if we can tackle the 5Ws and 1H Questions for each of the desired outcomes or potential problems, we would have achieved not only a great starting point by precisely defining the problem but also a direction in terms of what needs to be done. When it comes to consulting, I like to expand the scope of these questions as follows:

A. Where are we — status quo?

o Current situation

o ‘As is’ analysis

o Performance evaluation/assessment

o Competitor Bench-marking

o Linkages with previous work done in this domain

B. Why do we need to change the status quo?

o Market evolution

o Context/Market dynamics having changed

o Reasons of efficiency and effectiveness

o Inadequate utilisation of available resources

o Seizing new emerging opportunities

C. What do we want to be?

o Where do we want to go?

o Ambition

o Targeted metrics

o How is success going to look like?

D. How do we get there?

o Cost and resource implications

o Capability gaps to be plugged

o Risks, if any

E. Who will do it?

o Who will be impacted?

o Who will be responsible?

F. When do we get there?

o Timelines for implementation

o When will it start and end?

o Quick wins, if any

I truly believe that in the application of the above framework, one size fits all! Not only it is a simple tool but the appeal of the 5W & 1H framework lies in its universality.

Try it for the problem or challenge that you are currently grappling with!