The Power of Why?

In a recent article in The Globe and Mail, George Stalk a Sr. VP from the Boston Consulting Group, writes about the power of Why?

So why is Why so powerful? It is what enables us to understand the world and inevitably identify route causes of issues and problems. Without the answer to Why? we cannot hope to discover the How's, When's, Where and What's.

But as Stalk points out, too often people stop the questioning because the norm is to accept and move on, to fix what' s obvious and not spend too much time on delving too deeply. Stalk quotes an interesting example identifying the risk associate with defying the conventional norm:

" But the risks of asking “why” are real. The “Lord” in his fiefdom can inflict great pain on the questioner. In the early 19th century, doctors routinely went, without washing, from autopsies to the treatment of patients – with disastrous results. Ignaz Semmelweis is the man who first hypothesized the basic relationship and proposed and tested a change to clean hands – yet in his own time he was rejected by his peers, because he questioned the accepted practice. Mr. Semmelweis was only vindicated by research that occurred after his death in an insane asylum."

If you are an agent for positive change, you've probably recognized the exasperated looks on the faces of people when you've challenged the status quo and asked the ever threatening question why. The looks say "Are you nuts?" as you questions are seen as threats as opposed to opportunity for advancement and improvement.

Yet imagine if the three year old child stopped asking the why and just accepted things how they are? Imagine if Einstein, Madame Curie, Galileo and a myriad of others would have accepted the answer "Because" or the more advanced version "Because we've always done it this way!"

Stalk recommends asking Why? at five times. In fact if there is an attempt to red herring any changes -- five might be the minimum.

Corporations and governments which on a continual basis hail the advancements of others believe they are being appropriately cautious when not allowing for more of the why questioning, when in fact they are stifling creativity and enabling their enterprise to remain on an ever-revolving hamster-wheel.

People are afraid of Why -- a simple three letter word that can open up an entire new way of thinking -- But aye there's the rub -- many are happy with mediocre and why might mean more work!