We’re all familiar with the common scenario of a young child’s curiosity leading to a string of “Why?” questions, which in turn leads his parent to question the very meaning of existence, or in a frustrated burst yell back “Because I said so!” In the business world, the 5 Why’s are a Six Sigma process improvement technique used to identify the root cause of a problem. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll about money in politics describes a common sentiment, but the accompanying story would do well to ask why a few more times:

(Reuters) – Most Americans, no matter what their political party, believe there is too much money in politics and reject the idea that people should be allowed to spend what they want, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Thursday.

Seventy-five percent of Americans feel there is too much money in politics, and only 25 percent feel there is an intrinsic right to unfettered election spending, an argument commonly used by opponents of controls on campaign finance.

Next comes the Why, but it’s only asked once, and in the wrong way:

“What we’re essentially seeing is Americans are fed up with the system and they think all the money in the system is not fair and they don’t like it,” said Chris Jackson, research director at Ipsos public affairs.

Being “fed up” because you think something is “not fair” and you “don’t like it” is a start, but unfortunately the pollster’s childlike tendencies stop there, instead of transitioning into the why, why, why routine. Let me help: Continue reading →