By Editor’s note: From time to time I’ve been reposting some of my most popular articles from the past. This one was published here and on LinkedIn back in September 2017.
I’VE WORKED WITH a lot of leaders during my career, and I could go on all day about the qualities that separate the good from the bad and the great from the awful.
But as a story in the Harvard Business Review reminded me, there is one critical question that all good leaders get seem to ask, and I know this to be true because I have found myself asking it too.
It’s pretty simple but cuts to the very heart of leadership, and I’d be shocked if you haven’t heard it on more than one occasion as well.
It’s this: “Why are we doing it this way?”
Why leaders need to ask this question
IT’S A SIMPLE CONCEPT but it revolves around the need for a leader to gather information about why things are being done a particular way in order to determine if there is another way that might be better.
HBR condensed all of this in their Management Tip of the Day feature and they reduced it to this:
“Leaders must constantly explore new ideas and seek out new thinking from those around them. You need to regularly ask uncomfortable questions and think about whether to change or abandon an existing strategy.
The best leaders step back and look at the big picture every so often. They surround themselves with diverse teams and capitalize on opportunities to hear and experiment with new ideas. They give themselves time to surface divergent opinions that ultimately lead to smarter business decisions.”
The article goes on to talk about staying curious and challenging the status quo, but to me, all of that goes without saying. That’s what good leaders do because leadership is really about finding better and more efficient ways to move the organization ahead.
But that question — “Why are we doing it this way?” — is an intriguing one because of the thinking behind it. Not only is the leader gathering information (Tell me why we came to be doing this in this manner) but it also raises the possibility of taking a different approach (Have we ever considered that there might be a better way?).
Showing where you want them to go
I EXPERIENCED THIS firsthand when I was hired for the first time as the top Editor (the Editor-in-Chief) of a statewide newspaper in Montana. This newspaper had been considered the best in the state back in the day, but the company that had just bought it was unhappy with the quality of the news product.
That’s why I was there.
Newspapers have a daily meeting to discuss what will go on the front page the next day, and as I sat in on this first meeting after my arrival, I quickly came to the realization that a lot of the decisions they were making about Page One stories didn’t make much sense.
So I asked my version of the “Why are we doing it this way?” question, and it was this — Why does this story belong on Page One? Help me understand what makes it that important.
About half the time, the editors had a good answer I agreed with. But the rest of the time, they didn’t — and that allowed us to have a conversation about the relative value and interest in various news topics to our readership.
Over time I found that I had to ask Why does this story belong on Page One? less and less because the other editors developed a better understanding of the news values I had, what I was looking for, and what I thought made for a good Page One story.
Feeling good about where you are going
BY THE WAY, the media company that had purchased the newspaper and had been so unhappy with the news product we were publishing there in Montana generally liked the changes I was pushing, embraced what we were doing, and honored the newspaper as the most improved in the company the year after I arrived.
Everybody felt good about that, and when leadership works, that’s usually how it goes.
So remember: If you are a leader, you better be asking a version of “Why are we doing it this way?” It’s at the heart of how you help to point the way you want your organization to go.
