We’ve all heard the hilarious (and sometimes mortifying) stories of small kids being curious and asking why something is the way it is.
Dad, why don’t you have any hair?
Mum, why is your bum so big?
Or, Mum/Dad why is that person…….?
And while in the moment we may want to stifle that curiosity as we scurry away embarrassed, it’s really that small mind seeking to understand the world, the way it is and how it came to be this way. They’re being curious.
But why ask ‘why’ if it can be embarrassing?
Being curious and asking ‘why?’ is something that’s well worth practising as we move through life – encountering situations, people and challenges that we don’t necessarily understand.
Sure, you might need to check your ego occasionally – asking ‘why’ indicates you don’t know all the answers.
But that’s OK, isn’t it?
Being curious, and asking why, is a foundational element to living three of the SafetySuite Values – Learn, Teach and Innovation.
Simply asking ‘why?’ is, in our experience, the quickest way to learn about what someone is actually looking to achieve.
Asking ‘why’ is also a fantastic way of working out what someone understands, and therefore what we may need to teach them about.
And any innovation team worth its salt must understand the problem that it is seeking to address. And what better way to find out than ask ‘why?’.
But why is ‘why?’ so powerful?
Because it’s the ultimate open question.
It draws out a person’s purpose, their motivation, their needs, their desires, their fears, their wants and their not wants.
So you’d better be ready to listen and learn!
But it’s also incredibly efficient.
But why is ‘why?’ so efficient?
Ask ‘why?’ after someone makes a statement and you’ve asked them to think more about that statement and provide you with more information.
And all it cost you was three letters and a question mark!
Not for no reason is there an iterative investigation technique called ‘The Five Whys’ which was designed to find the root cause – which is our case would be the purpose, motivation, needs, desires, fears, wants and not wants.
Why ask ‘why’ when it comes to software?
At SafetySuite we’ve embedded ‘why?’ as a fundamental concept that simply must be understood before we help anyone with anything.
Sure, you might hear us using different words and phrases – ‘can you tell me more about that?’, ‘what’s the purpose of making that change?’, ‘how do you see this ending up?’.
But in the end, they are all about being curious, asking ‘why?’ and trying to understand that root cause.
So you will notice that we use a version of ‘why?’ whenever we speak to you, our customers or prospective customers, or each other.
Why are you interested in SafetySuite?
Why isn’t your current tool or method delivering what you need?
Why do you think SafetySuite is the best solution for you?
Why are you making that Product Suggestion?
Why didn’t you have the information you needed?
Why do you want to make that configuration alteration?
Why are we proposing to change the product?
Why would someone find that beneficial?
Maybe your ‘why’ is one of these, or perhaps one of these? (and on that subject, why haven’t you checked out our blog?) Or perhaps it’s something else entirely.
We won’t know until we make like a small child, get curious, and ask!
Why won’t you stop asking ‘why?’
We will! I promise!
Once we understand a customer’s why (purpose, motivation, needs, desires, fears, wants and not wants) in the safety and injury management space and can construct an accurate problem statement, we will recommend a solution which actually addresses the problem.
Or, we will take that precious understanding and further refine our product to ensure that it addresses the problem with all of our customers.
And you can be sure, we’ll be asking them about their ‘why’ too….
Once we have provided a solution which addresses the problem, then we believe our customers will be successful.
And when our customers are successful, we’re successful.
And for that reason, it’s all built into the way we work and the way that we run our business.
Why would I ask ‘why?’
Great question!
You might have seen a feature, a function or something else in one of SafetySuite’s six modules and thought ‘it could work so much better if it did this’.
So go an ask us why the product is the way it is! You’ll be giving us an opportunity to teach, and you might just learn a little bit more about what makes powerful, integrated, and innovative solutions for large Australasian organisations tick!
But hopefully after reading this you don’t need to ask why we ask ‘why?’.
Why don’t you tell us your ‘why?’
We think SafetySuite’s ‘why?’ is pretty simple, but also pretty powerful – Every One Home Safe Every Day.
So by finding out all about your why, we can deliver on ours!
Next time someone asks you ‘why?’, think about why they are asking ‘why?’.
Unless it’s one of those mortifying moments in a shopping centre. Then just scurry away and use every parent’s final go to: ‘because’.
If all this has made you curious about SafetySuite, and you’d like to ask us some ‘why’ questions, we’d love to hear from you!
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