Beware the Shallow World of “What and ‘How’

My daughter is in Year 10.  This is the ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ year.  To my delight I discovered my own copy from 1980 when I was in Year 10.

To support her I decided to read it again.  Needless to say my experience of the book was somewhat more enjoyable and intellectually reflective than my original attempt, and I endeavoured (with her permission of course) to coach my daughter around some deeper insight around the story.  My first question to her was “So why is it called ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’?”

Hmm, good question, Mum!

So we worked through that one and I threw her some other questions to think about.  There is so much to reflect on in terms of the story beneath the story in this novel and I was keen to enjoy unpacking it with her.

When I asked what the assessment for the semester would be, she explained that they had to write an ‘intervention’.  Apparently this means she has to pick an event or situation in the book and rewrite it with a different outcome.  Not what I expected, and kind of negating the need to continue with the intellectual reflection (or so it seemed on first thought).

My response was ‘why?’  What is the purpose of that activity in terms of your learning and appreciation of the novel you have just read?

She had no idea.  Her only (understandable) focus was on what she had to do to complete the assessment, and probably a bit of how and when it needed to be done in order to tick the appropriate boxes.

We live in a ‘what’ and ‘how’ world. It’s a shallow world in need of a good dose of substance.

Simon Sinek (Start with Why TedX) famously proposed that organisations that know why they do what they do are infinitely more successful than those that only know what and how they do it. (Check out his TedX if you haven’t seen it).

When we take the time to ask ‘why’ of ourselves and of others, we are infinitely more successful than when we only focus on ‘how’ and ‘what’.

The ‘what’ and ‘how’ is easy, but not meaningful.  It’s the ‘why’ that engages us and connects us with the meaning that drives motivation.  It is the ‘why’ that ultimately drives our decision-making.  It is the why that enables insight and engagement.

Along the same vein, when my daughter was attempting trigonometry homework and exhibiting less than desired enthusiasm for the task (my recollection of the experience 30 years ago was pretty much the same), I suggested we google ‘why’ trigonometry.  We discovered that it is used for things like measuring the height of waves, and to measure the height of buildings and mountains, and in video games and so on.  Whilst she is still not a mathematics fan, asking and discovering the ‘why’ provided some context and meaning behind the activity and helped her to make the effort required.

Think about your conversations at work – are they ‘why’ conversations that test assumptions and get curious, or are they ‘what’ do we need to do and ‘how’ will we do it conversations that are uninspiring and repetitive?

Think about your meetings at work – are they ‘why’ meetings that challenge and stretch your thinking and lead to innovation and simplification and clarity, or are they task-focused ‘what’ and ‘how’ meetings that lead to detail and overwhelm.

The very simple act of stopping and asking ‘why’ can made a huge difference. Give it a try for a day.

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