Time Deficit Version: For influencing organizations, you can ask “Five Whos” to get to key decision makers.

Many readers will be familiar with the 5 Whys approach to getting to root causes. Formalized by Toyota in the 1970s as part of the Toyota Production System and popularized by Six Sigma, 5 Whys looks for the real reason for a particular issue by repeatedly asking why. Channeling a three-year old’s inquisitiveness peels back the layers to reveal the root cause of an issue. Of course, five is just a good rule of thumb, and reaching the underlying cause can take more or less iterations.

For influence, we can take this iterative questioning approach and use it to help uncover the influence network we are working with. But instead of asking “WHY” we should ask “WHO”.

We know that influence is about shaping decisions, and decisions are made by people.

So, just who are those people? That’s one of the core questions we need to know to be effective in shaping decisions and outcomes.

Sometimes the answer is simple (your boss, or your client) and that’s all. But for most significant decisions, there’s more going on…a lot more. Ask “Who” five times can help reveal the people who shape the decisions you care about.

That might look something like this:

1. Who is going to make the decision you care about?
2. Who else is going to affect that decision?
3. Besides those people, are there other players?
4. Who else affects those players?
5. Who have you left out? 

Asking Who five times often uncovers far more than five people. So a final “who” question can be “Who matters most?” (more on answering that another time).

Other “Who” questions to ponder:

• Who is affected by this decision?
• Who supports this outcome?
• Who is against this outcome?
• Who benefits?
• Who loses? or Who thinks they lose? Does an outcome make anyone look bad? Who?
• Who loves the status quo?
• Who hates the status quo?
• Who is seen as the voice of wisdom?
• Who has a great track record?
• Who has a spotty track record?
• Who has a solid reputation in the company or community?
• Who has a past history with other people here?
• Who has been involved in trying to deliver similar results?
• Who controls the relevant infrastructure or resources (legal, financial, technical, or policy)?

I’ll expand and sort this list another time, and leave you with one last key “Who” question, one you will need to ask far more than five times:

Who next? Who do you need to work with next to get the outcomes that you want to drive? That’s at the center of the Influence Worksheet I published last week.

Knowing “who” is critical for influencing the decisions that determine your project’s success. Knowing the questions to ask gets you that much closer.

What are some of your favorite questions for uncovering the players in corporate decisions? Please let me know in the comments or on Twitter. Thanks!