In many coaching schools or leadership courses you learn NEVER to ask why questions. They lead to:
- Assigning blame
- Asking for justification
- Deepening the discussion of the problem
- Getting a team stuck
Here is an example:
- A: “I don’t like presenting, I am always super nervous?”
- B: “But why are your nervous?”
- A: “When I was in school and it was show-and-tell, my classmates always made fun of me.”
- B: “Why did they make fun of you?”
- A: “Because I never had anything interesting to show.”
- B: “Why was that?”
- A: “Because I think my mother only cared for my older brother, never me.”
- B: “Why that?”
- A: “I don’t know… I think I am deeply traumatized…”
Tada – from a simple problem: “How to present more comfortably” – we have thought ourselves into a corner that will be difficult to leave. Bad for the client, good for the coaches’ or therapist’s pocket book.
In schools for mechanical engineering or other technical domains the “why”-question gets a much better rap. There is the technique of 5 whys which invites to get to the root cause of a technical problem. Technical problems have the advantage that they happen in a much more constrained system then the complex system of human relations. In “complicated” systems, you can meaningfully discern cause and effect:
- A: My bicycle does not work
- B: Why?
- A: When I am cycling, I get this “bump, bump, bump” noise.
- B: Why?
- A: I think my tire is flat
- B: Why?
- A: I biked through some broken glass
Learning: fix the tire, don’t cycle through broken glass
But ARE there good “why”-questions in leadership and coaching? I was discussing this with a “Coaching-Fundamentals” group and we did come up with some really good examples:
- A: I would love to be able to delegate better?
- B: Why?
- A: My team would be much happier and I would have less to do.
- B: Why is that good?
- A: I think my work / life balance would be so much better…
Some “why”-questions ask for “your good reasons” or your motivation to do things. They are actually more “what-for” questions than “why”-questions. Inviting people to think about what makes their projects valuable is a really good direction for coaches and leaders to take 
.
If you want to know why you might join one of our next coaching meetups and exchanges:
- You will have fun with your colleagues
- You will meet great people across continents
- You can bring your questions and get interesting perspectives
Registration is here: