Six Honest Serving Men

I keep six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who.

(RudyardKipling, from "The Elephant's Child" in Just So Stories).

This is often cited as summing up what is at the core of analysis of all types (see WhatIsAnalysis), questioning.

In the context of SystemsAnalysis or RequirementsAnalysis, it is suggestive that the key ProblemDomain and PlanningGame interrogatives, "What", "Why" and "When" are separated from the SolutionDomain's "How" and implementation's "Where" and "Who".

You can also sing it to the tune of "Desolation Row" by Bob Dylan. I'm not sure how this helps, but I quite like it.

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More completely ...

I keep six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who.

I send them over land and sea,

I send them east and west;

But after they have worked for me,

I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,

For I am busy then,

As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,

For they are hungry men;

But different folk have different views:: I know a person small -


She keeps ten million serving-men,

Who get no rest at all!

She sends 'em abroad on her own affairs.

From the second she opens her eyes -

One million Hows, two million Wheres,

And seven million Whys!

The Elephant's Child.

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Note: the italic letter "I"s are in the original (unless they are printing errors in the book).