Gaining Perspective: The Five Whys

Young children are amazing!  They have a lot to show us and remind us... about curiosity, imagination, energy, and self-discovery.  I am easily amused when I encounter a child who hasn't lost the wonder of the question "Why?"  This simple... and sometimes naive... question can open doors:

• How something works?
• Why the world is the way it is?
• What has caused some relationships to go dormant? 

But, through the lens of a child's innocence, the question sometimes carries an expression of  "But why not?"

Gaining Perspective from a Lighthouse:
Guiding the Way; Protecting from Danger
(Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego)

My reflection on children and their innate drive for discovery came to mind when a friend and I rediscovered the Cabrillo National Monument along the San Diego coast.  It had been years since we had explored the lighthouse or tidepools.  With the recent stretch of warm weather, it was easy to conclude:  "Why not!"  Being on the bluff overlooking downtown San Diego to the southwest and the Pacific Ocean to the west, we were greeted with beautiful views... and a cool ocean breeze!

A number of children were climbing the lighthouse stairs when the inevitable question, "Why?", was asked.  I listened to the parent's patient answers about why the lighthouse was important to the sailors... how families lived near the lighthouse to maintain this important instrument to guide the sailors to safe passage... where the children played...

As I listened, I wondered if I demonstrate this same patience when I am given a chance to reconnect with a loved one or friend:

• Am I listening to what is important to another person?
• Do I openly explore their views?
• Is there safe passage through the narrow straits of my worldview?

Gaining Perspective from a Flawless Lens
Refracting and Reflecting Different Views
(Do you see the various images reflected in this lens?)

As my reflections continued, I recalled an exercise that our Practicum mentors suggested for our Dialogue learning groups:  "The Five Whys"  (by Rick Ross, and found in The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook:  Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization.)  This exercise invited us to explore more deeply those answers and values that we hold onto.

The exercise is summarized in the following steps:

• Why #1:  Why is [blank] happening?
• Listen to the answers, sit quietly, and then:
• Why #2:  using each answer as a base, ask "Why [response] is happening?" or "Why is [response] important?"
• Listen to each new response, sit quietly, and then:
• Why #3 through #5:  using the answers to the previous Why, allow a subsequent Why to surface.
• Listen.

It was an amazing exercise!  The process allowed me (and our group) to slow down, to listen with more intent, and to explore a deeper and more profound truth.  Through patience and understanding, we glimpsed the root of what the issues were... what was causing friction and danger... and how to maneuver around dead ends and rocky outlets.

Gaining Perspective from Height:
Seeing the Horizon and Going Deeper

The subsequent questions, answers, and listening process broadened our horizons and allowed us to come to different solutions than if we had stopped with our first answers.

I wonder:  what would this week be like if:

• We rekindled that childlike and persistent inquiry about the world?
• We recaptured that innocent search or curiosity to understand?
• We rediscovered a wider perspective of truth and reality?

 
May this week transform our Why's into lenses of wonder and discovery, freeing us from the surface dangers of untested responses!  But why not?!

Larry Gardepie
Dialogue San Diego Consulting