5whys Archives

Increase your motivation by making clearer connections to your purpose – Use the Five Whys technique to gain new insight on your goals and how to get them Image of person thinking - reflecting on uncovering motivation

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Why take this challenge?

Increase your motivation by making clearer connections to your purpose

Prune and refocus your workload to better align it with your goals

Identify new creative opportunities to deliver what you need to happen

Graphic image reflecting different pathways to take the adventure

George Eliot wrote “What makes life dreary is the want of a motive”. This insight is taken significantly further by two powerful minds in Simon Sinek (Start with Why) and Dan Pink (Drive).

Losing sight of why you are doing things not only makes work harder, it also makes it seem harder still. When our work loses focus on our outcomes, it quickly becomes inefficient in pursuing them. And when all we can see is the next task, our sense of purpose fades and ceases to energise and inspire us. Work becomes more of a effort and time begins to drag.

When this happens, if we have not fallen asleep, we need to think about uncovering motivation.

One of the simplest and most powerful tools we know for doing this is a Japanese discipline called ‘The Five Whys’. It was invented by the founder of Toyota back in the 1930s. And it is best understood by imagining a small child meeting every answer you give them with “… but why?”

Often, by the third ‘why’ it is not uncommon (if we are honest) to realise that we haven’t really thought about it that much. And when we do think about it, it is not uncommon that we can spot other, better, ways of doing it.

+ Green track - taking it in your stride

A dreary task

So the green track this week is simply to take one of your most dreary tasks (or at least one that motivates you least) and ask ‘why?’ you do it.

Then, when you have written a clear answer to that, ask ‘Why?’ of that answer. And then again, writing down ‘Why?’ and your next-level answer until you have completed five whys.

Having done so, there are now two further questions you can ask yourself as you reflect back on the five answers you have given. The first is – “Is that ‘why’ really important to me?”. And the second is “Is there a better way of getting there than what I am doing?”

Don’t expect the Five Whys to necessarily give you a clear outcome. Like all of these adventures, it is simply about exploring new pespectives. When you begin to gain that perspective, what you do with it is up to you. The Adventure is only about the view. And from your viewpoint you may see places where you struggled in getting there. If so, feel free to adjust your route.

+ Blue track - a bit of a workout (click to open)

Uncovering motivation with a friend

You can do the Five Whys on your own, and most times that is the most practical option. Alternatively, you can enlist the help of a trusted friend or colleague to ask the five whys of you. And if you do, this can add a powerful dimension to the exercise.

To illustrate this, my friend Adrian Ashton sent me this link to a short and very humourous video on the 5 whys.

It seems trivial to have someone ask you a question you can ask yourself. And yet, their eyes and ears have a positive effect on your discipline to seriously and honestly think through every answer. Even if those eyes and ears do nothing more than pay attention.

Try it and see how you get on.

+ Red track - stepping up to bat (click to open)

Uncovering motivation for the team

The red track this week is to try out the Five Whys in uncovering motivation with your team.

One option for this is to pick an aspect of the team’s activities, customs or practices. And then for you to act as the questioner and invite the whole team to reach agreement on each of the answers.

Sometimes, immense value can be obtained simply in the dialogue around the answers. Reconciling the different perspectives can provide new insights for people, and build greater mutual understanding and alignment. For one client, some years ago, I planned 45 minutes for a similar exercise as part of a 3-day workshop. In the event, it took 11 painful hours. And yet, the team thought it was the most helpful exercise they had ever done together.

Another option is simply to pair the team up and repeat the blue track in each pair – first one way and then the other. This can help them work on individual whys rather than a big collective one.

You may find the following resources helpful in tackling your challenge or in gaining further benefits from the skills and insights you develop

To catch up on past adventures you may have missed, feel free to browse our Adventures Library

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Useful links:

Introduction to Leading by Adventure  |  What we mean by spirituality?  |  Why Adventure
Adventures to date   |  I did it, but it didn’t work very well   |  How do I know if it is working
Bringing this thinking into your meetings   |  Adventure & Mental Health
Leading by Adventure community   |  Explore Strategic Support options