Why "Why" is Important

The other day, I was sitting in a coffee shop reading my newspaper when I happened to overhear a conversation at the next table.


One gentleman was telling another about a marketing position he was trying to fill in his company and he was highlighting the job's duties. Central to his outline was how critical it was to design the appropriate marketing collateral and get in front of the customer. In his words, this was the crux of strategic marketing.


Having thought for a while about what I had just overheard, I realized that the questions pertaining to strategy often disappear from rational thought when we discuss business issues. We are often so enamored with the sexiness of execution we fail to ask the most fundamental question of all, 'Why?".


In it's most fundamental form, strategy revolves around "Why?". In business, this should be our reason for being, followed closely by "How?". I have sometimes been known to utter: "Let those that do, do", but perhaps a better opening gambit is to say "Think first, think why, then do".


Although the process of asking "why" might seem like it would take more time on the front end, I am convinced that once the reason for action is clearly defined, the action itself becomes more easy to implement.