One of my favorite words is “why”. Why you might ask, because I am always asking myself why does this happen, or why does that happen. My employees would often ask me, why do we have to do it this way, or why do we have to do it that way, or why do we even have to do it at all for that matter!
My youngest daughter when she was little would keep asking me “why?” about everything. Why is the sky blue? Why are there clouds? Why can’t I go outside? Today; it’s why do I have to be nice, why do I have to do chores and the list goes on and on. Regardless of who is asking the question why, sometimes it doesn’t seem to matter what the answer is, the person might never be satisfied. By this time I am asking myself why and often exasperated!
With children this is often referred to as the “why” phase of child development. The curious phase. With adults in the real business world what does “why” really mean? For me personally, “why” sometimes is a way for me to ask a question, or on the flip side it is a way for me to get an answer. You see “why” is the reason we most often dig deeper to get to something we want to know. I often ask “why” as the inquisitive way to get to the root-cause of any problem that is before me.
For many “why” is simply all in the pursuit of knowledge. people ask questions to know something about what they don’t already know, like yourself with this question. There are different reasons why people seem to ask them, like curiosity, being nosy, to learn something, etc.
One would have to assess the question first before answering it….if its personal…do you want a person to know some things about yourself or not. if its something that’s harmless, feel free to give an answer. if its just too private to say, just politely say “that’s personal, I’d rather not answer”. As I said in the beginning, if its an inquisitive child, depending on the nature of the question once more, answer it….children look to us adults for the answers. if its an annoying person, what works for me is to repeat the last few words back to THEM in a form of a question. after a couple times being left in their laps to do the answering, they will stop asking. Some are not as smart as others doing this, and may take more times.
Remember that in business, “why” questions are usually on-topic provided they are clear, specific, and show adequate research and understanding of the subject matter. Otherwise “why” questions are possibly just being asked to circumvent a responsibility?
Want a good book to read? Why might you ask?
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to take Action. By; Simon Sinek.
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About the author; Steven Cohen, is the principal of GreenMark Consulting Group. Steven is a business management and operations consultant, mentor and coach with more than twenty-five years of landscape/snow industry experience. Steven has an extensive background in managing cross-functional business operations, business strategy and market growth projects. He prides himself as being both an analytical and a conceptual thinker who effectively partners with business owners to assess opportunities, facilitate strategic decisions, and drive successful implementations. GreenMark Consulting Group specializes in helping growth-oriented companies see through challenges and map out operational and growth strategies.
Questions? Email me at scohen@greenmarkgroup.com
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