Why. : 7 Steps to Promotion, Part 6

Knowing and applying the why behind what you’re doing is necessary to achieving high performance. Knowing the why allows us to place meaning on simple tasks. Applying the why allows us to achieve higher performance more consistently through understanding of contribution to the bigger picture.

The first step to knowing the why behind a job function is just asking. Don’t be the guy/girl that does it because “that’s how we do it”. Not only is this not beneficial to either party as critical thinking is how we grow, but it also removes the meaning from your job. When you ask the why, you are seeking to understand the purpose. When we know the purpose, we can add our own amount of meaning. I learned today at work that we don’t throw away the lids to the wooden pallet crates. I was throwing them away because to me, they had no use. I have never needed one and I have never seen someone else using them, so why save it? Another order picker came up to me and told me we, “don’t throw those away.” Okay, great, I won’t throw them away, but why? He couldn’t give me a why. He just saves them because that’s what he is told to do, and he gets paid regardless. Upon asking my supervisor why we don’t throw them away, I learned that they get recycled. He explained that other departments use them on the bottoms of new pallets to keep belt notches from getting caught between the pallet boards. What had no value to me this morning, now has a purpose and a function. In me saving the lids, I am helping the company save money by not having to buy more, and other workers save time by making sure they are available to use.

My extremely intelligent and intellectual dad (most bias aside) gave me good insight on this today. He put it this way, “You can easily focus on and appreciate the details when you have the whole picture, but it’s impossible to see the whole picture when you only have the details.” I could only see the detail; I didn’t have full understanding of the whole process of saving the lids, but once I understood the process, I had a why (picture). That why allowed me to add meaning and value to an extremely small and seemingly unimportant task (detail).

It is amazing how much faster people pick up on things when they know the reason for doing them. For example, at my current job, I package, tag, and ship out items after I have gone through the warehouse and picked them. A few weeks ago, I picked a bale of hose, wrapped it, and was getting ready to ship it. The shipping/receiving associate stopped me and asked if I could put that bale in a box. I could have just said, “Yep,” and done it, but that wouldn’t have helped me do a better job. He would be asking me to put a lot of bales in boxes for a long time to come. So, I said, “Yes, I will, but can you explain to me why it is better in a box? I’m just curious.” (The way you ask the why is extremely important also. You want to come across as seeking to understand, not questioning instruction.) The associate, Steve, explained to me that when we ship things as a bale, UPS charges us an extra $15 compared to if it were in a box. If we can make it fit in a box, it saves us $15 on shipping costs for that order. To this day, I would have no idea that was the case if I hadn’t asked. Now, every time I ship a bale, I know why it’s important to try to fit it in a box. I don’t need someone to tell me it has to go in a box and do it because they said so. I can use my own judgement because I know what it costs the company if I don’t. Better yet, Steve can spend his time more productively because he doesn’t need to tell me to put the bale in a box each time I bring one over.

I first applied this why just to other bales, but then I got to thinking that other types of shipments probably vary in cost also. I just assumed that weight was the only determining factor in shipping price, but obviously that wasn’t the case after learning how much more it costs just because the bale isn’t in a box. I now know that different types of containers cost different amounts to ship, regardless of their weight. So now any time I ship something I think, “is this the cheapest way?” This is a why that can apply understanding to not only my current job, but future jobs as well.

Keep this in mind when coaching others also. From my experience as a supervisor at The Home Depot, I found that when I took the time to explain why we did XYZ, XYZ took less time to teach and was done more consistently with greater care.

When seeking promotion, knowing the why behind your job function is important because as a supervisor/manager, you must know the whole picture to understand what part your team is playing in it. Applying the why’s you do know will allow you to come up with different ways of functioning that better serve the bigger picture. Know the why and apply it.