Are you looking for a more thoughtful and intentional approach to work that will help both you and your business grow?
As someone who has worked in Fortune 500 companies, early-stage startups, scale-up turned unicorn and consulted many entrepreneurs, I've found that the most productive discussions always start with one simple question: "why?"
In this blog post, I'll explain why asking "why" can provide you with valuable insights and help you drive successful business growth. I'll also provide some sample questions you can use in your work to get started.
Why asking "Why" matters
Asking "why" can be a powerful tool for unlocking insights and improving your strategy, product positioning, and more. It creates a conversation and forces you to elaborate more, rather than accepting short, surface-level answers.Why provides way more insight, if answered genuinely and openly.
Whether you're trying to understand why a certain feature is being prioritised, why a process takes so long, or why you need to cut costs, asking "why" can help you get to the root of the issue and identify opportunities for improvement.
Few sample questions you can use in your work
Here are some sample questions you can use to start asking "why" in your work:
- Why are we doing this?
- Why are you prioritising this feature?
- Why do you think this is important?
- Why do you think you need to cut costs?
- Why does this process take so long?
In Conclusion
By starting with "why," you can then move on to other important questions like "how," "with whom," and "when" to develop a more thoughtful and intentional approach to your work.
Next time before rushing to execute, will you stop for a second to ask your team, leadership, the founders — why we are doing this?