Asking Why

Do you ask why frequently?

I once had a boss who asked why over and over -- beyond a reasonable amount of times. It starts to feel like a persecution.

We need to know why, but we also need to use the question carefully. How we ask "why" matters, as does how many times we use it. When we're doing a root cause analysis on a problem, we might ask why five or six times on a perceived cause to search for its root. But that's on a thing, on a process, on a condition -- not on a person.

Go ahead and ask "why" but realize that most people don't enjoy the question.

-- Doug Smith

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High Performance Leadership

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