When Was the Last Time You Asked ‘Why’?

by Kitty Ambers, CIC, CPIA, CISR, Chief Growth Officer at AVYST

If you have children, you likely remember the phase when they asked, “Why?” constantly. Everything you asked themA group of question marks to do and every experience they encountered, the question was always, “But why?” Somewhere along the way those questions stopped.

What a sad thing.

We know that curiosity drives creativity, imagination and innovation. So as adults, why are we no longer inclined to ask, “Why”? Is it because we heard, “Because I said so,” one too many times as children?

In the workplace, “Because I said so,” often has become, “Because that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Yet we should celebrate curiosity and questioning. Don’t we, as leaders, want to drive innovation in our organizations?

If you are in a leadership position, are you comfortable encouraging your team to routinely question everything?

In my experience, being open to the question, “Why?” inspires a spirit of curiosity that can lead to process improvement and growth.

Simon Sinek encourages his readers and listeners to Start with Why. By understanding and routinely contemplating the core purpose of any endeavor, you keep the “why” top of mind. This focus on purpose drives outcomes that ultimately lead to progress.

If growth is part of your agency’s purpose, I encourage you to consider your current new business, point-of-sale workflow. Why do you do things the way you do? Have you invested time to ponder the steps in order to maximize productivity?

At AVYST, we work to focus on driving process improvement. Our most recent release of eForms Wizard Gold includes more than 100 carrier-unique forms and supplemental applications that allow our users to drastically improve their data-capture process at the point of sale. Why? Because it’s critical to be able to gather prospect and client details in a single place, allowing complete submissions to get to market quickly. In addition, adopting the eForms Wizard methodology for point-of-sale data capture reduces E&O loss exposure and enhances cross-selling.

For more information, visit eForms Wizard on the AVYST website.

The AVYST Blog is designed to inspire thinking around operational and organizational improvement.  A recent related post:  You Can Have Results – or Excuses, But Seldom Both