“Why?” curiosity with a Q?
We’re glad you asked, because it’s a question we get asked quite a lot and it’s one worth exploring further . . .
Creative Curiosity
Our natural curiosity is what makes us Human. From our early evolution developing primitive tools through to the discovery of electromagnetism, steam power the combustion engine and powered flight, it’s enabled us to break boundaries, connect the world, create new technology, solve big problems and explore the stars.
When we are curious we discover opportunities to question, and questions are the best place to start when solving any problem. It helps establish the “What? How? When? and Why?” of a problem or situation.
Asking the right Questions?
Being curious is about asking lots of questions and asking the right questions is a skill. We can think of no better person than the Nobel winning Physicist Richard Feynman (know for his work in theoretical physics and credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing and introducing the concept of nanotechnology) to better explain our point.
When asked “Why do magnets repel each other?” He establishes that “why?” questions have their problems. To ask a “Why?” question Richard explains “you have to be in a framework that allows something to be true”. This is because “Why?” questions in the world of science and physics will likely lead you to more “Why?” questions without actually establishing any answers. In short, it’s likely to open up a rabbit hole of “Why?” questions you may very well fall into. So in the context of science “Why?” may not be to the best place to start.
So Why?
However in the world of brands, we’ve found that “Why?” is the best question to start with. The reason being that there is a truth to be discovered or established.
Why?
– does your brand exist?
– does it attract certain people?
– is it successful?
Knowing your “Why?” as a brand or company is important, it is the singular truth, promise or mission that drives everything you do. Your “Why?” should be the reason you are in business beyond financial gain, your “Why?” is not and should not be about making money. For instance Coca-Cola’s “Why?” is “to refresh the world” and Apple’s is “to challenge the status quo and to think differently”.
Simon Sinek takes this further in his “Start with Why” philosophy. He has developed what he calls the the Golden Circle, with “Why?” at its centre followed by “How?” and then “What?”.
- Why – This is the core belief of the business. It’s why the business exists.
- How – This is how the business fulfills that core belief.
- What – This is what the company does to fulfill that core belief.
It looks simple right? But what Simon found is that many companies tend to start with “What” and then move to “How”, some tend to neglect the “Why” and alarmingly many don’t even know why they do what they do!
So as you can see, asking the right questions and being curious about the world and what we do is an important creative tool. In fact it’s our “Why?”.
“Why” do we do what we do, because we are “Qurious”, have we satisfied your “Quriosity”?
