The Three Why's of Wisdom

We recently listened to a TED talk by Ricardo Semler (FIG’s new hero!) and were blown away by the parallels to something we’ve talked about in past offerings rather a lot. He believes that if “we simply ask why we do things and devolve power to employees, we’re able to to create wiser companies - ones that are simultaneously more productive and have a happier workforce.” In the talk, he discusses the 3 “whys” we as professionals ought to be asking ourselves. He says “the first “why”: you always have a good answer for. The second “why”: it starts getting difficult. By the third “why”: you don't really know why you're doing what you're doing.

Ahh yes, that elusive “WHY!” Why is “why” so important? One of the most pervasive questions we received developing FIG 6 years ago was, “What’s your “why”’ for starting this thing? It’s an important inquiry, and one which has taken a ton of intentional introspection, thought and time to answer. It’s an evolutionary process that has expanded in nuance as FIG has matured; But enough about our company. Let’s dig in and talk about “why,” shall we?

In our humble opinion, knowing our “why” is one of the fundamental elements of professional success (however you define this accomplishment: sharing accumulated wisdom, financial security, wealth, prestige, bragging rights or being respected as an expert in your given field - that’s a very personal assessment). Knowing our “why” is our mission, our raison d’etre (reason for being). Without it, we’re bumping along, going through the motions, accepting offered or earned promotions rising through the ranks until we get, where? To the top? Of what? I can’t tell you the number of times in my past life as a headhunter, I would speak to candidates, unhappy in their often very senior level positions. They had achieved a level of financial prosperity which supported the big house, country club memberships, grand vacations and kids at private universities. They had toiled through many 70 hour workweeks, put up with nonsense from coworkers and clients, prioritized work over family, even jeopardized their marriages, all for this nebulous thing called success. They were stuck in their own “success.” They loved all the stuff that came as a result of their very hard work, and were paralyzed at the notion of having to give it all up in order to change their careers for the sake of their happiness and psychological welfare. They were miserable. I can safely say most of them didn’t understand why they were doing what they were doing in an existential sense.

In his talk, Mr. Semler mentions the 3 “why’s” we ought to be asking ourselves in our professional experience. The first is often easy. To our minds, this is the base level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs: the physiological ones. We all need to eat, have a place to sleep, feel safe, and we need an income to provide for these fundamentals of life, earnings we derive from employment. 

The second “why” is a little trickier. As we’ve talked about in past articles, this involves asking ourselves, “What do we want and why do we want it?” Which goes back to the personal appraisal of what successful achievement actually means to you

The third “why” is the dodgiest of all: why are you doing what you’re doing? 

Those of you who know this author are familiar with Dr. Mio Fredland, a mentor and guide of mine for 40+ years. She was a world-renowned psychiatrist who trained with Anna Freud herself in Vienna and became one of the leading experts of her time in child/adolescent/adult psychology. Was she successful? Wildly so. Was she famous within her professional circles? Indubitably. Did she have clients who would travel intercontinentally just for an hour long session? You bet, many times a year. Her “why?” She cared about people - she had natural, intrinsic gifts and talents for psychoanalysis with nuance that far exceeded the textbook or lecture, which she shared and employed for the duration of her 61 years in medical practice. She never stopped learning, so dedicated, indeed in love, with her practice as she was, in the evolutionary development of psychiatry. She strove to bring the latest developing treatments to her patients whom she saw until 3 months before she died at the age of 92. Psychiatry was her passion, her calling, and, in so following that ardor, her “why” emerged - because of this, she never “worked” a day in her life (and coincidentally, found immeasurable success for precisely these reasons).

FIG’s “why” bears an uncanny resemblance to this mentor, who is apparently teaching me still. It is a calling, a mission and lifework: to bridge intergenerational communications, help clients know what they don’t know, provide tools, skills and language for effective, accurate professional conversation and communications. It is the confluence of every single professional and personal experience this founder has had in her lifetime - and it’s resonating with so many! We’re human beings and at our core, don’t we all want to see things a bit differently, learn a little more, expand and open our minds a tad? Be open to new concepts, new ways to think about things and embrace new concepts? I hope so, it’s how we evolve and grow. This is the emergence of wisdom.

So, what’s your “why?”

Until next time…….