Phil & Monique: Five Whys

FADE IN:

INT. MUSEUM CONFERENCE - GRAB-AND-GO CAFE - DAY

At the pickup counter are MONIQUE, exhibition developer wise beyond her years, and PHIL, anxious independent museum consultant.

PHIL: I have to cut part of my project.

MONIQUE: [Looks for barista] Why?

PHIL: Out of time.

MONIQUE: Why?

PHIL: We didn’t have costs until now.

MONIQUE: Why?

PHIL: [Furrows brow] We didn’t get them estimated yet.

MONIQUE: Why?

PHIL: [Annoyed] We could only do it at the end! Why do you keep saying why?

MONIQUE: Five Whys.

PHIL: What?

MONIQUE: No, why.

PHIL: [Rolls eyes] I mean, what’s Five Whys?

MONIQUE: Ah. A Toyota technique to define a problem. You ask “why” five times to find the root cause.

PHIL: Toyota? Like cars?

MONIQUE: Yep. Works great on museum projects though.

PHIL: OK. How far did you get with me?

MONIQUE: Four. You said you could only get estimates at the end. Why?

PHIL: We wanted to save money on cost estimating. But I guess doing that actually made us … over budget.

MONIQUE: …

PHIL: [Wide-eyed] Wait, Five Whys worked!

MONIQUE: Usually does. Now I just need that coffee.

PHIL: Why?

FADE OUT.