Ask and Answer Why

Have you ever asked yourself why you do what you do?

Like why do you get up early in the morning to go to work, to tee off, to run or to spend time with God? Why you long to drive that hybrid car? Or why you crave for ice cold soft drinks?

Now when we talk about why, I am reminded of Dr. Randy Pausch, author of the Last Lecture, who wrote "The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have." He died at the age of 47 in 2008.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006 which forced him to answer the question why spend time on certain things and for him the answer was to leave a legacy for his kids and for humanity.

People like Randy Pausch are forced to answer the question why because of their circumstances. And in my mind, they are fortunate to have clarity to this question because it makes their life more meaningful. Some of us live all our lives never asking and answering this question.

I submit to you that as leaders, we are often obsessed with what we do and how we do it, rather than why we do it.

For Randy Pausch, he just happened to be a Computer Science professor (what) who loved to give lectures (how)...

This thinking of what and how is so pervasive that we even see it in the corporate world.

Dell for example is in the business of custom made (how) computers (what).

Toyota is in the business of making high quality (how) cars (what).

While thinking about what and how are important and can be big just like Dell and Toyota...

We should never discount the importance of answering the why, Simon Sinek author of "Start with Why" articulates the reasons for beginning with why, instead of what and how.

He says that first and foremost asking why makes us aware of our values and beliefs.

He goes on to say that we are inspired by and are naturally attracted to people and organizations that share the same values and belief systems as we do.

He says that the reason is also biological, people behave or act not on what they know or can logically rationalize (which comes from the neocortex)...but rather on how they feel (which comes from the limbic system) - and feeling is related to why.

For example, people will buy a hybrid car because they believe in being "GREEN", it "feels" good to have your hands on the steering wheel of that car and when people see you driving it, even though when you run the numbers you would need to drive an exceedingly long distance everyday to be able to recover the cost of your investment, not to mention that the installed batteries may not be all that environmental.

Another example is drinking soft drinks - now how many of us know that drinking soft drinks is bad? And how many of us drink soft drinks anyway? Your answer might be: Drinking soft drinks makes me feel good...even when it is bad.

Lastly, when we start with why, people are able to overcome a lack of resources and talent or skill. Randy Pausch did not have the resource of time on his hands and he was not known for his computer science prowess, but I'm sure that you will agree when he answered "his" why, that he accomplished what he set out to do which is to leave a legacy for his kids even in his death.

How about you? Why do you do the things that you do? Know why and discover your life's purpose, before you go into the business of answering what and how and I guarantee you that it will make all the difference.

Watch Randy Pausch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcYv5x6gZTA