I have spent a lot of time over the past ten months working to empower a group of people to learn one question...Why?
Why???
Tonight I am going to do a dangerous thing....think and write simultaneously. Everybody grab a drink, a snack, and a seat. This could get dicey. :)
I'm not sure who is to blame, and even if I was 100% confident, I am not sure I would take the time to nail them down on it. That said, someone convinced a lot of smart business people in this world that they needed to stop asking, "Why?". Worse, it caused a domino effect so that a lot of good people stopped asking why and simply...did. They did whatever task was put in front of them however it was asked of them. They never questioned. They never brainstormed about another, possibly better, more efficient, excellent way. They simply did their task. Period.
This is true in business, in schools, at non-profits, in churches, in families, and most certainly in all things government related. We went from a culture of "Why not?" to "Okay."...with nary a whimper.
I don't need "okay" or "yes men/women"; I need people who will look around and ask "Why?" at every turn. In some respects, I guess I need a lot of toddlers.
Now, I am laughing writing that, but if there is one thing we need in business today it is more people who have the curiosity and spirit of children BEFORE they get jaded.
We have to trust ourselves. We have to trust each other. We have to be willing to say, "Your way is better than my way."
Whoa! (I can hear you saying it.) :) :)
We need to ask "Why?" and we need to set the expectations with others to do the same.
Why do we do this that way? Why do we buy this? Why do we use this software? Why do we only go after this list of donors? Why do we have to use this website? Why do we only have two choices? Why do we eat at noon and not earlier? Why do we need Daylight Savings Time in the age of headlights on tractors? Why do we only say two prayers? Why do we only have meetings there? Why do we even have this meeting? Why do we only buy these pens?
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
A lot of efficiencies can be found in simply empowering your team to question why they/we do things. A LOT of things can be changed by simply asking, "Why?" AND waiting for the response. :)
I dare you to ask why in an area of your life. If you are a parent, a manager, a preacher....I dare you to ask of your families/teams/congregations that they ask themselves why they do what they do, when they do it, etc.
Why? What a powerful word. What a powerful question.
Be careful...it might just lead to...wait for it....Why Not?? :) :)
Sunshine Dreams to You ~ Today and Every Day! :)