5W1H stands for What, Why, Where, Who, When, and How. It is a thinking method that uses these 6 questions to guide thought, decision-making, and action. Also known as six-question analysis, it can help ensure that our thinking is rigorous and comprehensive, while also sparking new ideas.
When thinking through how to arrange a meeting, we can use the Liuhe framework: when and where to hold it, who will participate, what topic it will cover, what segments it will include, and what purpose we hope to achieve. For a communications placement plan: Why advertise? Which audience should we target? What formats and channels should we choose, what content should we run, at what times and frequency, and in which placements? In short, the Liuhe prompts can help us complete and refine all kinds of execution plans, proposals, and creative designs.
Second, the Liuhe method can be nested within other models to provide support—for example, comparing competitor attributes, identifying breakthroughs in the product lifecycle, and developing network strategies within SWOT; helping break down a core issue in the pyramid model; and setting out thorough plans in the action stages of the PDCA and GROW models, among other uses.
Third, Liuhe can also offer prompts in many aspects of daily life, helping us make up for gaps in our thinking. For example, a manager may assign a task in just one sentence: “Xiao Zhang, go take care of something.” The information is incomplete. At this point, don't rush into action; first use Liuhe to think through whether it's urgent, how far away the location is, what the contact person's details are, and so on. It may seem simple, but there are plenty of people who start working without knowing why or how. Using Liuhe more often to spot omissions and fill gaps can make work much more reliable. In addition, Liuhe can offer prompts for briefings, writing, performances, rehearsals, and even criminal investigations, showing that it is an all-around model that can play top lane, support, or jungle.
Why is it so capable? To understand that, we need to take a closer look at what the Liuhe questions really mean.
Depending on the context, each term in the six-question framework can represent a different concept. “Where” might mean position, location, height, depth, or level—all spatial attributes. “When” might refer to the beginning or end of a process, or its frequency—temporal attributes. “Who” can mean the host or guest, the initiator, recipient, intermediary, or logistics staff. The “who” category concerns people and their attributes; “what” can refer to a project, a problem, a phenomenon, an object’s form, a color, and so on.
“Why,” which concerns the attributes of things, can refer to a direct cause, a root cause, the background to an event, or a trigger for achieving a goal; it belongs to the category of causality. “How” belongs to the category of logic and can refer to a method, an action, a way of operating, progress or degree, a mode of exchange, and so on. Any change in people, events, or things that occurs in time and space for some reason belongs to the attribute of motion. You’ll find that these 6 questions are not just specific questions but directions for inquiry. Each direction corresponds to an attribute and can branch into an unlimited range of questions within that attribute. So why do many people say of the six-question method, “I understand it, but I just can’t use it well”? A single “what” can correspond to different things, and just one “how” can prompt more than one question. Knowing the direction of inquiry doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll ask the question accurately or comprehensively. This can leave you feeling at a loss, as if there’s something you haven’t thought of. That’s why many people find it hard to use. I do too. That’s okay: when using this boundless, unrestricted model, if you can make use of it and try to draw out more insights, something is better than nothing.
So why did I choose the Six He’s at the beginning of the video? It comes from a very fundamental way of thinking: where, when, who, what, why, and how. These six questions explore space, time, people, events, things, causality, and the changes and movement based on those attributes. To put it dramatically, they can cover almost everything that exists. That’s why the Six He’s method seems so basic and simple, yet all-encompassing. It also brings to mind another “six he”: the six directions—heaven and earth, and the four cardinal directions—coming together and converging. This “six he” also refers to everything between heaven and earth. But when you ask about entering the six he, the clever part is...