Most leadership books and gurus will tell you that leaders are learners and full of curiosity. Sometimes, this penchant can get you into trouble and – as many entrepreneurs learn the hard way – lead you traipsing off after some little bright shiny thing, letting your business languish. This kind of curiosity is the not good kind. But the good kind of curiosity takes you deeper, not far afield. It digs you into the root cause of the problem you need to fix – for your customers with a product, for your employees with an operational issue or for your investors for a financial issue.
How does one focus their curiosity to get to the bottom of the problem where the gold lies?
The 5 Whys
There’s no sure fire answer to this question because many lines of inquiry can be dead ends, but I like the way Eric Ries explains the 5 Whys in this short video.
The 5 Whys are designed to narrow down the problem space until the underlying issue is discovered. This can be a phenomenal strategy for finding the pony and learning what good thing your conversational adversary is advocating during an argument. And the 5 Whys are also a great leadership skill for learning to draw out the best from your employee base.
5 Strategies for Surfacing the 5 Whys
When I interviewed Patricia Koopersmith about her experience transitioning into executive leadership, I was struck by her awareness of how holding back her own opinion until she’d dug more deeply into what her staff thought made her a smarter leader. She recognized all the new information she was able to bring to solving problems when she asked them why they thought something was out of whack. Thinking about her comments and the experience of other clients, I have compiled 5 strategies for asking the 5 whys:
- Don’t ask yourself the first why, ask someone else.
- Ask a third person the second why.
- Pursue the third-fifth why’s in conversation.
- Ask a completely new person the first why – repeat.
- Do listen, intently.
Managers ask the 5 Whys to solve problems. Leaders use these techniques to help other’s solve problems, foster collaboration and get smarter.
Leadership is a journey. Take it with other people.
Check out the resources in the InPower Coaching EQ at Work and Soft Skills Research Index.
