Comments on: The five “Whys” a manager should ask

By: Ron Thompson

Ron Thompson — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 22:10:56 +0000

Asking pertinent ” Why ” questions fast tracks learning and from that understanding of what needs to be done to move forward. Part of realizing potential and effecting change – if there is the will and ability to do so !

With asking good questions it’s interesting observing the outcomes of those answering them – hopefully enlightenment that results in better decision making, or resentment if an awkward situation, or nothing if they don’t know what they don’t know ! Getting a handle on this is important since reward and risk directly correlate to the response above.

By: Bill Carpenter

Bill Carpenter — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 17:24:49 +0000

Thanks for another actionable pearl of wisdom, Dave. And perhaps the best result of using questions that way is that it empowers employees to do it themselves next time. If too many “why?” questions start to provoke a defensive answers, try “what do you think caused that?”

Another useful technique can be a series of, “so what?” or (less aggressive sounding) “resulting in . . . ?” questions which produce information on the cost of the problem (or the value of the solutions uncovered with your series of “why?” questions).

By: Les Spielman

Les Spielman — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 17:02:18 +0000

Excellent article Dave. This one really got me thinking about digging deeper before making decisions. This article should be read by every manager.