Strategic thinking: Mr Why and Mr How
Mike Riversdale draws a nice distinction between asking Why and How:
… “why” is past orientated and “how” is future orientated.
For instance, asking “Why do I do have an ‘open information’ principle?” will lead me to question my past actions, environment and experiences. However, if I ask, “How does having an ‘open information’ principle affect me?” leads me to talk about the future actions, behaviours and thoughts.
I’ll bear it in mind when I’m using my “6 honest serving men” - Messrs. What, Why, When, How, Where and Who (with their assistant Master Not). However while a useful distinction in the right context, this understates the usefulness of Mr Why, who is probably at his most powerful when determining what your total market offer is (and what it is not) and how you fulfil it (and how not). Ask yourself why (and why not).
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May 30th, 2008 at 8:00 am
I replaced why with IF a while ago, in the context of ‘if not this then these consequences, it helps me, though maybe not everyone.