WHY?

WHY? That's the question. It's never the 1st question or the starting point, but it has to be the LAST question. And it has to be asked over and over and over again. You have to come back to it just like a diabetic has to check insulin levels. It can't be answered one time and then left to die a lonely death on a shelf. Like it or not, WHY is a 3-letter rising force to be reckoned with. Avoid the question - ignore it long enough - and it will begin to slowly eat the life out of WHAT and HOW. They're defenseless against WHY! 

We've been doing it this way for years! WHY?
You just can't do it that way. WHY?
We can't just sit by and do nothing! WHY?
Please consider spending your time and money on ________. WHY?
He's crazy! There is no way that is ever going to work! WHY?

WHY isn't very scientific or mathematic. (Those guys prefer WHAT and HOW and WHEN.) But WHY isn't necessarily hung up on matters of the mind - it's often honed in like a laser on engaging your heart! WHY compels people. As Andy Stanley writes in Visioneering, "WHY translates into urgency and incentive." When we try to tell people WHAT should be, they need to know WHY. Get it?

Could be = WHAT, WHEN & HOW
Should be = WHY!

Stop driving home the same way every single day. 
Stop wearing that same shirt every Tuesday. 
Stop eating the same thing for lunch in your office.
Stop living your life like an automated robot. 
Stop accepting everything they tell you at face value and demand to know WHY!

Be the one on the team, in the board meeting, at the staff retreat, in that next brainstorming session to shock the crap out of everyone by raising your hand and asking, "WHY?" Be the one to ram a stick through the spokes before everyone keeps cruising down that same hill on autopilot for so long that you're not even paying attention to the scenery anymore. WAKE UP!

And if you read this and you're left wondering WHY - WHY should I care? WHY should I be the one to question? WHY me? WHY now? If you start there, I think you're on the right track.