Why are you doing that?

In an aside in a recent webinar, Tim Paige from LeadPages mentioned he has a sticker on his monitor that says ‘Why are you doing that?’. Couldn’t we all use that question?

‘Start with Why’ is the name of a book by Simon Sinek and it has become a catch-phrase in business and management circles. Sinek has been lauded for making us think about our purpose and how we communicate it to those around us.

What if we applied this thinking to the little things we do all day long?

Here are a few examples where asking ‘Why are you doing that?’ might result in some very different behaviours:

• checking emails every few minutes
• calling a meeting that isn’t really necessary
• doing ‘busy work’ to avoid doing the important things
• copying people onto emails who don’t need to receive them
• inviting people to a meeting when they don’t need to be there
• sending messages without a clear purpose or desired outcome
• straying onto social media when you know you should be working
• chasing after the latest shiny object, new program or productivity tool
• avoiding the difficult conversation, the risky decision, the growth opportunity

It’s easy to think of a long list for yourself, I’m sure! Then there’s only one more question to ask yourself:

How would my results be different if I made a habit of asking myself…

‘Why are you doing that?’