In my new communication business, my big focus is “communication as systems and culture.”
We tend to think of communication as a skill that individuals are good or bad at. And that’s true as far as it goes…
…but whether individuals are good communicators or bad communicators doesn’t mean much if the organization’s communication systems aren’t working, or if its culture discourages good communication.
Today, I’d like to talk about an element of workplace culture no one ever seems to mention.
It’s making sure your workplace has a Culture of Why.
This one change, if done right, can drastically improve both the morale of your teams and the success of your projects.
That’s why I’m about to share some of the information that you’d normally get in several email follow-ups to my freebie 5 Communication Gaps to Look for in Your Organization. That free PDF helps teams identify their systemic communication gaps, one of which is working without the “why.”
Working without the “why” is when people assign tasks without explaining their purpose and context. And unless you’re trying to train the next Jason Bourne, this is a serious problem that needs to be fixed.
But before we talk about how to fix it, we need to understand why it’s a serious problem. Because until we understand why, we don’t get serious about fixing it.
Which is my point in a nutshell.
Why we need the “why”
1) When people don’t know why a task matters, they treat it like it doesn’t matter.
Imagine you invent a new drill for your rugby team. It’s a brilliant drill. Your design is flawless. It’s going to solve the problem your team has had in its last three games. You give your players the exact instructions and tell them to get to it…
…but some of them don’t immediately understand why you invented it, so they treat it as just another thing to get through before they get to the part of practice that they actually like.
They’re not taking the drill seriously!
Now imagine if before you gave them the instructions for the drill, you’d said:
“This is going to solve X problem we’ve been having. I designed it to improve Y element of our skills. We’re going to nail it by our next game, and we will be UNSTOPPABLE.”
Your players want to be unstoppable! They’re going to attack the drill seriously, even if they hate it.
This principle works the same way in a workplace. When I assign an employee a super-boring task like reformatting a spreadsheet, I can either walk away without explanation, or take the time to explain exactly what’s going to happen after their task is complete, and how the company will benefit.
I can tell you right now that when I take the time to explain, employees typically do the work both cheerfully and well.
Whereas when I don’t explain, it’s pretty hard for them to be cheerful about it. And they may not consistently do it well, because they’re not invested.
2) When people don’t know the purpose and context, they can’t give you new ideas.
Supervillains train their assassins to perform tasks without purpose and context, because they don’t want the assassins to have ideas. (Example idea: “What if I go into business for myself?”)
You’re not a supervillain, though, so I assume you’re assigning tasks with good purposes in mind. That means if there’s a better way to achieve your purpose, you want to know about it!
Here’s a real example from my life:
Many years ago, a company vice president sent me a one-sentence email instructing me to “Test [software X] and report back on how useful it would be.”
Note that when she sent me this email, she didn’t tell me what she wanted the software to be useful for. I could have wasted several hours testing software X, which cost $500 per license, and reported back to her on what it could do. But instead, I asked her why she was interested in the software.
She replied that she wanted it to perform a certain function that she thought would be beneficial to the business. Which was great, because then I got to tell her that the company already had software that performed the same function. We could start doing the thing she wanted today, without spending any extra money or research time!
Wouldn’t you love to have one of your team members immediately solve your problem for $0 like this?
The thing is, I’m an outlier. Most people are not willing to grill a “higher-up” about the why behind their ask, so they’re going to waste those research hours and tell you exactly how the $500 software can do whatever they imagine you might want it to do.
If you don’t give the “why” up front, you’re probably never going to hear about the great solution they could have handed you.
Instead, you’re going to spend time and money to solve a $0 problem.
If you think this example sounds silly and couldn’t possibly happen often, I’m sorry to break your heart 💔…
Many different managers, VPs, and even C-suite executives across several different companies have given me no-context assignments like this one. It’s sadly common.
3) Centering the “why” activates any kind of brain.
We live in a neurodiverse world. Different brains work differently, and some brains need to know the “why” behind a task in order to efficiently initiate the task.
Knowing the “why” also reduces anxiety for many people on the autism spectrum (you can read someone explain this in their own words in this article at thearticulateautistic.com).
By always giving the “why,” you can show respect, alleviate anxiety, and enable everyone on your team to do their best work—without ever needing to know exactly which employees’ brains are hard-wired to require it.
I could go on, but I’ve already written a novella here, so let’s stick with these top three reasons.
Now that you understand the problem, how can you fix it?
The fix is to build a “Culture of Why” in your organization.
I mentioned that I’m an outlier. I ask questions in just about every meeting… but there have been many days when I was the only person in the room who asked why.
This wasn’t because the others in the room didn’t think to ask. (I know, because I asked them afterward!)
The reason they didn’t ask was that they knew higher-ups sometimes react defensively to “why” questions. And nobody wants to sit through a defensive rant! So they stayed silent.
It’s up to leadership to build a culture where this doesn’t happen.
How to build a Culture of Why
1) Make it a habit to always proactively explain why.
If you don’t lead by example, no one will follow.
Crucially, at the same time that you start working on this habit, commit to reacting positively when someone asks you a “why” question.
Notice how you react to questions. If you find yourself reacting defensively when someone asks “why,” then controlling your defensiveness is the #1 habit you need to work on.
2) Tell all your organization’s managers at every level that you expect them to develop the same habits.
Ask every single layer of leadership, top to bottom, to develop the proactive “why” habit and the “reacting positively to why” habit. Tell them this is non-negotiable, and tell them why. Then follow up with them periodically about it, so that they know you’re serious and this is a permanent, culture-level change.
Hold them accountable, especially executives. Make sure the habit actually takes root. They may need weekly or twice-weekly check-ins at first before you can move to monthly or quarterly. Do not make exceptions. Make sure you consciously hold everyone to the exact same standard, instead of shrugging problems off with oh-well statements like “Oh well, we all knew Bob would fail at this.”
3) Tell all team members that they have the right to expect a why.
Tell everyone in your organization… and I mean every single person, down to the very most junior workers or contractors… that you’re building a Culture of Why. Let them know that you’ve already instructed their managers to embrace “why” questions, and encourage them to start asking if their managers forget to explain purpose or context.
4) Check in periodically to make sure it’s working.
Review how things are going to make sure that everyday business stressors haven’t made your organization lazy about these “why” practices.
Do these four steps in order, or they won’t work. You have to do 1 before 2, or you don’t have enough credibility to make 2 happen.
At minimum, even if you haven’t mastered the habit yet, at least publicly announce to your leaders and managers that you are working on the habit. That establishes a baseline understanding that you’re not asking them to do something you don’t plan to do.
(Just make sure you actually do it. They’ll notice if you don’t!)
You have to do 2 before 3, or you haven’t laid the groundwork to make 3 possible.
Leaders have to take the time to internalize the idea and figure out how they’re going to practice good habits. Then they have to actually start doing it. Then, and only then, can your “boots on the ground” trust you when you move to step 3. Take step 3 before you’ve got 1 and 2 on lock, and you’ve set your organization back instead of moving it forward.
What about confidential information?
Naturally, there will sometimes be parts of the “why” that you can’t tell junior workers for legal or confidentiality reasons. That’s okay. Your team will understand this and roll with it as long as your why habits are solid otherwise.
Do you already have a Culture of Why at your organization?
If not, are you looking forward to trying it out?
Hit me up in the comments or contact me and let me know!