Why Ask Why
I have now made it a habit to ask Why?
Recently, the hotel I was at sent me down the street to a health club since their gym was being renovated. Before I could use the equipment, the health club wanted me to fill a complex form with full address and contact information + a detailed health assessment... Why? Insurance regulations, they said. Since I only wanted to use the treadmill for 30 minutes, I went back outside and speed walked for 1/2 hour instead.
Insurance regulations are very powerful things these days. Because of them you can't watch a mechanic repair your car, or visit the warehouse, or see the kitchen, etc...
It gets worse...
Medical clinics will not give you the phone number of the doctor that took care of you... Why?
My local bank is giving new clients a nice gift, I've been a client for years and get nothing... Why?
My old phone company wants me back, so they called to offer me much better rates. Why did they not give me great rates while I was a client?
Since I have made it a habit to ask Why?, I find that I do not get many decent answers. Most of the time the front line workers who are charged with implementing the asinine policies of their company have no clue. They are just frustrated by being asked the same question over and over, and having no real answer.
Most bureaucratic (not client intimate) organizations do not want any WHY questions to work their way up the chain - they want front line folks to be the only line of defense. The well known responses include:
- That's our policy.
- Sorry, I can't change this.
- Nobody here can help you with that right now.
- and of course - Insurance regulations.
Clearly, the primary goal of the response is to get the client (questioner) to go away, to stop bothering us. Does that make any sense?
Messaging Architects’ Goal - BEING REMARKABLE
At Messaging Architects, it is our mission to ALWAYS answer the WHY?
I am convinced we will surely improve a lot of things for our clients by doing so.
– Pierre Chamberland
Pierre Chamberland is the Chief Energizing Officer at Messaging Architects.
