Importance of Asking What Instead of Why, by Dr. Tojo Thatchenkery

I want to share with you a simple technique that will make a big difference in a variety of challenging situations that you face at work. It has to do with learning the difference between the why question and the what question. Let me ask you this: what happens when someone asks you a why question? Imagine you are working on a very time-sensitive project that's due next week and your boss has called a meeting of you and your team and you've run into some unexpected delays and challenges and you're worried it might be late. Now, your boss asks you, in front of the rest of the team, "Why are you late?" What are you going to feel? You're going to feel a bit upset, you may feel angry, you will feel put on the spot, you may feel defensive, you'll try to come up with interpretations, analysis, explanation, you may even blame others, you may shift responsibility. You might say, "It's Microsoft Windows 10 not uploading properly." You may come up with all sorts of causes. Well, there is a different way of asking for information, and I call this, "The what question."
I have to tell you a story to make the case for the what question. Many, many years ago, an anthropologist went to study a culture in a remote village. He observed that a tribal chief was walking around the fire five times. He asked him, "Why are you doing it?" The anthropologist did not get a good answer. By chance, he reframed and asked a what question. He asked, "What happens when you walk around the fire?" The tribal guy said, "It produces images of God." He followed up with another what question, "What happens when the image of God is evoked?" "It produces rain." Now you know why the tribal chief was running around the fire. So the interesting thing is that, when you ask the what question, you're getting a description, you're getting a story, you're getting details, you're getting data and content. This is very important to understand because in the why question, you were getting interpretations whereas in the what questions, you were getting data. In fact, the most famous what question was asked by Albert Einstein. He asked, "What would the universe look like if I were riding on the end of a light beam at the speed of light?" You know what was the answer? It was E=MC^2, the whole Theory of Relativity came from that.
So, look at the difference between the why and the what. The why is a closed format; the what is an open format. The why is very reactive; whereas the what is proactive and generative. The why is so much focused on the causes; whereas the what is focused on the process and actions. The why is looking into the past, such as, "Why are you late?" Whereas the what is about the future. For example, let us say your boss asked you, instead of, "Why are you late," he asked a what question. Suppose he asked you, "What would it take you to complete this next week?" You'd have said, "I need the following things…" He could have asked, "What would it take us to get those things?" You would have said, "I need X, Y, Z." He would say, "Who can do this?" You start some kind of a problem solving, one what question leads to another what question, and suddenly, all of you are engaging in figuring out what needs to happen to get this project accomplished by next week. Nobody is in the why mode, you're not blaming anyone, you are in an action-oriented, future-oriented way, trying to sort things out. I guarantee you, your boss would have gotten a much better outcome had he asked the what question.
So let's see if you can practice using the what question. It's very simple. For example, think about your last couple of days at work and make a mental note of the many why questions you might have asked. Take two of them and share that with a friend or a colleague who might be sitting with you. Reflect for a minute and consider how you can reframe those two why questions into a what question. Share those two what questions with your friend or colleague. Ask your friend for some feedback regarding how good you do this. It's very hard to practice what questions initially, so it's good to get this feedback from your colleague or friend about how you did with the what question, and keep practicing.
I guarantee you, every why question can be reframed into a what question. It is hard work, the more you practice, the better you become with the what questions. You will notice the difference in other people. When you ask the what question to other people, they engage with you. When you ask the why question, they're distanced from you because they have to come up with an explanation. The what question opens the doors for you. It allows people to join you in a mutual collaborative way of problem solving. I have practiced this, I have seen other people doing it, and I can guarantee you that if you start practicing the what question, you will get the results. Remember, every why question can be reframed into a what question.