Struggling to Stay Disciplined? This One Questioning Method Fixes Everything
Discover how a simple yet powerful questioning technique can help you break bad habits, stay on track, and solve problems at their core.
I had about a year and a half of experience working at startups in Chile. I had built systems, solved problems, and felt confident in my ability to handle engineering challenges.
Then I joined Amazon.
One of my first major responsibilities was managing a system that handled inbound receipts for warehouses worldwide. If this system wasn’t working properly, Amazon’s supply chain wouldn’t function as expected.
I worked hard to build a solution I thought would scale. But when we launched, the system crashed. Inventory was arriving at warehouses, but the system wasn’t logging it correctly. That led to financial discrepancies, and at Amazon, issues like these don’t just get ignored.
That’s when I was introduced to Correction of Errors (COE), Amazon’s structured way of learning from failures. The COE process isn’t about blaming people; it’s about understanding what happened, why it happened, and how to prevent it from happening again.
One of the most useful tools in this process is called the 5 Whys. It helps uncover the real cause of a problem instead of just fixing surface-level issues.
To learn more about Amazon’s COE process, check this resource. For now, let’s focus on how the 5 Whys helped in my situation and how you can use them in your life.
How the 5 Whys Helped Diagnose the Issue
At Amazon, when a system fails, employees don’t just patch it up and move on; they ask why it failed in the first place. The 5 Whys is a method that helps get to the root of a problem by asking "Why?" over and over until the real issue is found.
Here’s what a blameless 5 Whys analysis of my incident might have looked like:
Why did the system fail?
A database table had shown issues as two processes were trying to write to it at the same time.
Why was there contention between the two processes?
A new process was introduced that wrote to the same table as an existing SQL-based process.
Why weren’t the processes coordinated?
The legacy process was not updated to stop directing traffic that now shifted to the new process.
Why wasn’t there a mechanism to prevent duplicate writes?
The architecture assumed that only one process would be responsible for writing to the table.
Why did the architecture assume only one process would be responsible for writing to the table?
Because the understanding was that alarms would be raised if something went wonky.
But there was no observability, metrics, or alarms in place to detect the problem before it affected customers.
At first, the issue seemed like a simple system crash, but the real root cause was a lack of monitoring and coordination between processes. Because there were no alarms, the problem wasn’t caught until another Amazon team reported it.
The takeaway wasn’t “someone messed up”; it was that processes needed to be realigned and the system design needed improvements: better coordination between services, safeguards against duplicate writes, and proper observability to catch these issues before they caused real problems.
The 5 Whys Are Not Just for Engineering
This same problem-solving approach doesn’t only work in engineering. The 5 Whys can be used for any kind of problem, including productivity, personal habits, and self-discipline. Let’s walk through a more illustrative example.
Struggling with Meeting Deadlines
Let’s say someone keeps missing deadlines and wants to understand why. Instead of assuming “I just need to be more disciplined," the 5 Whys can reveal a deeper issue:
Why are deadlines being missed?
Work isn’t getting done on time.
Why isn’t work getting done on time?
Important tasks are often started too late.
Why are tasks started too late?
There’s a tendency to put off big projects.
Why do big projects feel overwhelming?
They aren’t broken down into smaller, manageable tasks.
Why aren’t tasks broken down?
There’s no structured system for planning work ahead of time.
At first, the issue seemed like procrastination, but the real problem was a lack of structured planning. The solution isn’t just to "try harder"; it’s to improve time management by setting up clear plans and breaking big projects into smaller, manageable steps.
How the 5 Whys Strengthen Self-Discipline
The 5 Whys method isn’t just a tool for solving technical issues; it’s a tool for realigning when things aren’t working.
Too often, when people struggle with self-discipline, they assume the problem is not trying hard enough or lacking motivation. But self-discipline isn’t about rigidity; it’s about realignment. This method shifts the focus from self-blame to self-awareness, helping us analyze obstacles with curiosity rather than frustration.
It forces you to slow down and ask the right questions. It builds self-awareness by helping you see what’s really happening beneath the surface instead of reacting to problems at a surface level. It promotes accountability, not in the sense of punishing yourself but in the sense of taking ownership of your process. It encourages adaptability because instead of stubbornly sticking to a broken approach, you learn to adjust and improve.
If we want to be truly self-disciplined, we need a mental model that helps us adapt when something isn’t working. The 5 Whys is a key part of that mental model because self-discipline isn’t about forcing action; it’s about understanding obstacles and designing better ways forward.
Takeaways
The 5 Whys is a powerful tool that helps uncover the real reason why things aren’t working, rather than just addressing surface-level symptoms. Whether it’s a technical failure in a system or a personal struggle with productivity, the real problem often isn’t what we first assume. Instead of reacting to issues at face value, taking the time to ask “Why?” multiple times allows us to dig deeper and find solutions that actually work.
Self-discipline isn’t about pushing harder or forcing willpower; it’s about fixing the process so that the right actions become easier. Many people believe they struggle with discipline because they lack motivation, but often the real problem is a broken system, an unclear structure, or an unexamined obstacle in their way. The 5 Whys is a tool that promotes self-awareness by helping us understand what’s truly blocking progress. It also builds accountability, not in the sense of blame but in taking ownership of our process and adjusting when something isn’t working.
This approach applies far beyond engineering. Whether you're missing deadlines, struggling to focus, or finding it difficult to stick to a habit, the 5 Whys can help identify the root cause of these challenges. The answer is rarely “I’m just not disciplined enough.” More often, it’s something in the way things are structured, the way priorities are managed, or the way obstacles are handled.
At its core, self-discipline isn’t about rigidity; it’s about realignment. When things feel off, the goal isn’t to just push through blindly but to stop, ask why, and make the necessary adjustments. This method provides a simple but effective way to do exactly that.
So next time you find yourself struggling, whether it’s with focus, productivity, or a personal goal, don’t just try harder. Try asking why. You might be surprised at what you uncover, and more importantly, at how much easier discipline becomes when you work with yourself instead of against yourself.
💭 Before we end, I’d like to leave you with a challenge.
Think about an area where you’re struggling, whether it’s productivity, habit formation, or a recurring challenge. Instead of assuming you just need more discipline, apply the 5 Whys to uncover what’s really causing the issue.
The deeper you dig, the clearer it becomes: discipline isn’t about forcing action; it’s about creating systems that make the right action easier.
Have a wonderful week!