Jeff Bezos and Root Cause Analysis: The author explains how, while he worked for Amazon.com in 2004, Jeff Bezos did something that the author still carries with him to this day. During a visit the Amazon.com Fulfillment Centers, Jeff Bezos learned of a safety incident during which an associate had damaged his finger: He walked to the whiteboard and began to use the Five Whys technique.

Why did the associate damage his thumb? Because his thumb got caught in the conveyor.

Why did his thumb get caught in the conveyor? Because he was chasing his bag, which was on a running conveyor.

Why did he chase his bag? Because he had placed his bag on the conveyor, which had then started unexpectedly.

Why was his bag on the conveyor? Because he was using the conveyor as a table.

And so, the root cause of the associate's damaged thumb is that he simply needed a table. There wasn't one around and he had used the conveyor as a table. To eliminate further safety incidences, Amazon. com needs to provide tables at the appropriate stations and update safety training. It must also look into preventative maintenance standard work.

5 Whys example made by Jeff Bezos and use similar analysis to get to the root cause of the defined problem : Customer is complaining about receiving later orders.