The beauty of “Why”
By Sophie ElliottWhy do we ask questions? Why are they valuable? Why should we ask Why? We explore the beauty of “Why” in our take on Warren Berger’s book, A More Beautiful Question.
My interest in the power, and beauty, of questions led me to discover A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger. The book explores the power of questioning, both in business and in life, exploring how questioning falls off a cliff as we grow up and how, as adults, we can bring it back. Reading this book, I reflected on how we use questioning at INDUSTRY of Us.
One of the key concepts in the book is Bergen’s ‘Why, What if and How’ framework for innovative questioning. He outlines the 3 key types of questions:
Why? - Seeking true understanding, helping to question why things are the way they are.
What if? - Helping to open a new line of enquiry, asking what if something was done in a different way is the basis for new opportunities.
How? - The first stage of action, where new ways of doing something are explored and tested.
One of the things that really struck me about this framework was the importance of Why questions. What if and How questions are highly familiar to most innovators, as they form the foundation for new ideas. Why questions, however, are less common and often restricted to Exploration/Empathy stages of a project and used specifically to help understand consumers and/or user needs.
Why ask why?
In reality, asking Why is fundamental throughout the innovation journey. As innovators, it is our job to ask Why, to challenge project teams when a new brief or initiative lands on the table - What is the problem we are actually trying to solve? Why are we solving this problem? Also, to question our actions and decisions as the project progresses, particularly as time goes on and the external context changes. It’s important to take a step back (as we so often do with consumers in research), and really interrogate Why.
Bergen outlines a nice example of George Lois, the well-known designer of magazine covers and advertising campaigns. In meetings, Lois was renowned for being the one to stop a meeting and challenge what was being said or done, always questioning Why they were doing things a certain way. Whilst others saw him to be slowing down the meeting and halting progress, he knew the group was prone to using tried-and-tested ideas or approaches, which were not always suitable. By asking Why, Lois challenged the group to step back, which ultimately led to better outcomes.
Questioning is valuable for many reasons, especially in the world of innovation. Asking Why makes us stop and reflect on the problem we are trying to solve, which in turn helps us see familiar things in new ways, challenges how we think about the world and ultimately helps us ask better What if and How questions. This leads to better answers and solutions.
Asking Why is also valuable in challenging assumptions, especially our own. When we ask ourselves Why, our answers are influenced by our internal biases and assumptions. As Berger discusses, the skill of questioning dramatically drops off a cliff after the age of four. Our social structures, whether that be in school, business or broader society, teach us that there are right or wrong answers to problems. It’s answers that are valued, not questions. As such, we are prone to overestimate our own knowledge, either because we truly believe ourselves to be right, or because it is scary and vulnerable to admit you don’t know something in a world so driven by answers.
So, in order to identify our own biases and assumptions, we again have to ask Why, and encourage others to do the same. This helps us challenge our way of thinking and creates the space for teams to be open to new ways of thinking or doing things.
How to ask why?
There are a number of techniques that you can use as an innovator to ask Why and encourage yourself and project teams to challenge assumptions and decisions.
One way to do this is by using the popular 5 Whys technique - traditionally used to find the root of a problem, but less commonly used by innovation project teams. This technique, developed by Sakichi Toyoda the founder of Toyota, is remarkably simple: when a problem occurs and an approach or direction is suggested, ask ‘Why?’ five times. In doing so, an opportunity is created to take a step back and interrogate a form of action, meaning the real reason for doing something is identified and then can be challenged.
However, asking Why is hard - think back to Lois whose colleagues found him annoying when he was constantly questioning them. To overcome this, there are ways to ask Why without actually using the word. Reframing the question to something more simple and direct helps you remain curious and get to the desired outcome without sounding like a slightly annoying 4 year old who’s favourite word is Why, for example:
Help me understand….
What led to this decision?
What is your hope? or What would you like to see happen?
Alternatively, Question Storming is a useful method for generating lots of questions, as it can help get teams into the mindset of being curious, challenging and asking questions. Traditionally, Question Storming is used as an alternative to Brainstorming during ideation, where participants generate as many questions as they can about a specific challenge or topic. By adapting this technique to generate lots of Why questions, teams will begin to feel more comfortable with challenging and reflecting. This will improve the quality of Why questions, as well as how people respond to them.
When to ask why?
As I have mentioned, asking Why is difficult, especially because it often involves pausing and slowing down the process which is challenging in short projects, or design sprints. Therefore, it is important to recognise when asking Why is valuable, and design specific stages into the process, for this. There are three examples of when to ask Why:
In scoping of the project - This is often the first stage of any project or challenge, when the focus of the challenge is developed, identified and articulated. At this stage, it is integral to ask Why we are exploring this specific challenge and Why we are using this specific approach to ensure it is the most appropriate way of tackling the brief. By designating time at the start of the process, it helps everyone air potential issues or queries and align on the goal moving forward.
When selecting activities for a workshop - When designing a workshop, it is important to select appropriate activities that will generate the desired outcome. Here, it may be useful to use the 5 Whys technique to drill down into the purpose of the activity, which will help you articulate its objective and how it relates to the desired outcome.
Mid-way through a project - As discussed, asking Why gives the opportunity to step back and re-assess, which is important mid-way through a project to ensure you are still aligned with the brief and moving in the right direction. At this stage, reframing the Why question is useful, as it will help the team re-align to the goal, rather than reframe the challenge which will add time and complexity to a project.
So, why?
Designing the 5 Whys technique and a Why-only Question Storming session into different stages of the innovation process, and reframing the Why question helps the team step back and check-in with the true reason they are doing something, ensuring the project is moving in the desired direction. By creating this space to question, it also gives the project team permission to challenge the way things are currently being done, ultimately getting to a stronger understanding of the problem, individual intentions, and a better aligned team moving forwards.
So let’s all be like those curious, if slightly annoying, 4-year olds, always asking Why. In doing so, we will ask better questions and get better answers, both in business and life.