If you have ever worked alongside a Systems Thinker, you will know exactly what I mean. All they keep asking is 'Why?'. They even have a technique called the '5 Why's' encouraging them to ask 'Why?' five times in a row ... You may as well invite a 5-year old to a meeting.
Well before you resort to settling for a 5-year old, let me try to shine a little light on the science and benefits behind the question 'Why?'. Why is a very important question. It has a number of positive outcomes.
Purpose, Motivation and Engagement - Firstly, the question 'Why?' uncovers the purpose or positive intention of an activity or project. Purpose is a driver of motivation, high performance and ownership. Employees who are not able to answer the question 'Why?' are generally less engaged with the process of delivering an activity or project. It is also impossible for employees to work with others if they miss this information, encouraging silo working mentalities.
Unlocking curiosity and creativity - 'Why?' also helps to unlock people's curiosity and creativity. When people are not able to answer the question, they are more likely to want to gain this knowledge. In today's world where practically everyone has the answer to any question at their fingertips with the help of mobile technology, the question 'Why?' can even drive people to be more self-directed learners.
Linking people and resources - Seeking a higher purpose or cause by asking 'Why?' also helps identify possible collaboration opportunities (aka duplication efforts) with others who are moving towards a similar outcome. Connecting people and resources around a higher purpose can often mean better informed solutions and, in combination with the above benefit, unlock collaborative innovation.
Linking people and resources - Seeking a higher purpose or cause by asking 'Why?' also helps identify possible collaboration opportunities (aka duplication efforts) with others who are moving towards a similar outcome. Connecting people and resources around a higher purpose can often mean better informed solutions and, in combination with the above benefit, unlock collaborative innovation.
Chasing true causes and higher systems - The science behind the 5 Why's? can be found in NLP, in the format of chunking up. Definition of Chunking Up: 'In NLP, ‘chunking up’ refers to moving to more general or abstract pieces of information.' Every time someone asks 'Why?', it encourages others to seek for a higher purpose or cause. For example:
Why is unemployment high in the UK?
Because there are too few jobs.
Why are there too few jobs?
Because businesses are not creating jobs.
Why are businesses not creating jobs?
Because there is very little demand from customers.
Why is there little demand from customers?
Because people are saving their money out of concern about the financial climate.
Because there are too few jobs.
Why are there too few jobs?
Because businesses are not creating jobs.
Why are businesses not creating jobs?
Because there is very little demand from customers.
Why is there little demand from customers?
Because people are saving their money out of concern about the financial climate.
The example shows how each higher purpose identifies the cause of the problem in the question. Asking 'Why?' several times actually shows that there is a higher cause to the problem, in this case a broken economic system.
So why is that important? Well, to use the above example, what would happen if the government tries to encourage businesses to create more jobs by giving them grants? Does that solve the problem, or does it set businesses up to fail?
So much effort and resources go into causes which are really symptoms of a bigger national or even global system which has become dysfunctional in today's world. This in turn leads to bigger problems and loss of even more effort & resources. It can leave people and systems dysfunctional and totally overwhelmed.
So next time someone asks you 'Why?' remember this blog.
Signed - the annoying Systems Thinker ;)
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