Have you ever thought Why?
A good place to start is with a story we shared recently in our Why and How, not Why or How blog.
Read on once you have read the story of Lessons From Teaching Naughty Boys Maths.
Why is Why important?
Affectus has developed an imaginative process to help you get a hand on your why. But why is why important?
In this current climate of wondering why people are acting the way they are, there are lots of question that might start with why.
- Why did she speak like that?
- Why would he have done that?
Why often flummoxes us when we look at the world.
I can remember listening to a dear friend of mine ask her young sons why they had done what they had. There was rarely a succinct answer but you could see their developing brain ponder the why.
The definition of why as a noun is a reason or an explanation and as an adverb for what reason and or purpose.
But Why is more than that.
Why is more than asking questions? It is about finding your purpose. What is your purpose? Why are you doing what you are doing?
Have you considered how to get to the bottom of why?
Do you wonder how more focused you could be?
The essential components of Why
Firstly what are the essential components to consider when exploring why?
Have you considered the values that guide you? Those values that are fundamental to you, your life.
Your values are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work. They determine your priorities.
This sometimes takes a bit of sorting. But establishing your values is the base block of your Why.
Be encouraged and reflective and uncover your values. You may be able to start seeing your What is being built as you think through your values.
If you understand your values you can see that they guide us in our decisions and our undertakings. Therefore, they are the fundamental block of what drives us. Our purpose.
Our Values and the link to our Why
After spending time considering and establishing your core values can you imagine having to operate against your values?
It is hard to imagine.
I heard a story recently about core values of the business. An interesting concept.
To know your business core values will assist you in knowing how to respond to your business environment.
Have you got your business values sorted? Perhaps you need to get your key people (notice I didn’t say executive team) around a table and discover your core business values.
Values drive our thinking, our responses, our behaviour, our actions.
When we observe others around us we can see their values on display. Generosity, greed, consideration - we see them on our trains, our roads, in our workplaces, all around us. Our values are on public display. We know this and we display our values.
Connecting Values to Purpose.
Now let’s stretch your thinking about your values and your Why and connect them.
It is important to build the link between your values and your Why.
Your values are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work. They determine your priorities. Therefore, through knowing your values means you have a clear understanding of what is important to you. You can then directly link this to your purpose.
If your Why is:
- doing something you see is of value to you (and potentially, hopefully to others)
- about working on something that is important to you
then the link between your values and your Why is strong and should be considered and inseparable.
Know your values and understand that they are one of the building blocks to exploring your purpose.
The Illustration – Values and Why the important tension
To finish, we once heard an acquaintance talking about the workplace and personal values and the importance of working in a place that had similar values.
The personal story was confronting to hear. The tension in the story was clear. There were the espoused values of the organisation, however, the actual values were displayed through accepted behaviour and this created a disconnection with a disappointed employee.
Things had to change because the organisational values were not being lived and this prevented the employee from working with purpose. There was no connection. The employee considered that his purpose was not connected to the work of the organisation. The tension was too great and something had to change.
We have some other interesting blogs on why and other valuable concepts for you and your team here.
If you would like your team to find purpose contact us and we will be able to assist in just 3 hours.