The subsequent &quot;layers&quot; of reasons are fundamentally different.<p>For example, applying this to IT when analyzing the underlying causes of a particular downtime or security breach, usually, the first 2 layers of &quot;why&quot; are technical reasons that need to be adressed by the relevant specialists, the next 2 layers are failures of policy and procedures that need to be adressed by the managment chain, and around 5th &quot;why&quot; you get to weaknesses in the organization, company priorities and values which is slow to change but valuable info anyway.<p>Beyond that you just get to acknowledgements about how life is not perfect that is not actionable, but the first 4-5 layers of &#x27;why&#x27; generally do lead to something that can be fixed given proper authority and motivation.