Asking: Why?

Where I work we have a monthly staff lunch at which there's usually a short talk from someone with something pertinent to share. We've so far heard from an architect, the HR director of a large multi-national company, the leader of a church in Leeds and there's more good stuff to come. Most recently the speaker had to pull out so we watched this TED talk instead.


The video is worth watching if you haven't seen it. Simon Sinek outlines his theory that all great leadership starts with communication of the why, rather than the what or the how.

For me this was interesting because I've always been a fan of asking: why?

When children reach a certain age they start asking why. If you've experienced the endless "Why" of a small child you'll know it can be darned annoying, but it's born in our human desire to understand the world, not just the what and how but most importantly the why.

It's something that we're generally discouraged from doing. Those in authority, particularly those who in authority over you but don't have a great deal of authority over themselves, find it particularly troublesome and at school asking why too often usually doesn't go down terribly well.

As a result we stop asking why. We learn to accept things are the way they are and this is just the way we do things, even if it doesn't make much sense.

For me, why we do something is important. It might be the greatest of ideas, but unless someone can convince me why it's such a good idea, I just won't buy into it. Often asking why makes it pretty clear other people don't know, and that's why they're presenting this half baked idea as if it were a fully formed plan; that's why nobody else has really bought into either.

When I worked for the BBC in local radio (very much the poor relation in broadcasting) what seemed the most inane diktats would come from on high, they'd be relayed by our local manager, and we'd be expected to simply accept them, unquestioning, as the well thought through and ultimately correct result of higher thinking and planning. You can probably tell from my tone that I didn't always agree.

Interestingly, for those working on internal communications, there were times when something big came along that was a radical change for everyone. It was clear those in charge expected this to be hard to swallow, they expected a fight; they didn't get one.

The reason big changes could sometimes be accepted without strong challenge, when arguably less important things became a battleground, was because we were told why.

Of course the why doesn't always have to be explained in minute detail every time, sometimes it's sufficiently well embedded in the ethos of an organisation that people just know it, but you can't assume that and it's worth checking from time to time.

So ask why a little more often, about the big things and the small things. It's my hope that I can carry on asking why in a grown up way but with all the curiosity and desire to understand of a small child.