The first questions to ask was "why", that was last month's article. The second question to ask is "who."
"Who" is about the people involved. "Who" tells you the context of the plan. Context includes who is involved. What are their needs. What are their values. What are their goals, objectives, and desires. Only by knowing these things can you begin to answer the question "why?"
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3 comments:
I still go back to saying that "what" is the first question. You can't even talk about the subject with others, much less project dates unless you have a firm handle on what you're talking about.
Once you've got the what, I like what you've said about the when, who and why. :)
Albeit, since the what flows from what the Father is doing, it is inextricably tied to the why. I need the why (vision) before I can project the when or work with the who because I need to have the vision birthed in me. They why also speaks of how much priority to give to the subject (which affects the when) and how much energy to invest in it, depending on its importance and/or urgency.
As I look at it, I need to revisit the what and the why in the process of working it through with other people. Without that it remains my project not theirs or ours. But unless the what and why are birthed in me (the leader) initially, we'll spend a lot of time running around in circles, very possibly coming up with a goal or purpose made in committee that isn't really where we need to go. In revisiting the what and why with my team, they will normally get amplified and refined, sometimes dramatically, but it still starts from within the leader in my experience. George Barna supports what I'm saying when he says that it's a myth to think that vision grows out of group rather than out of a leader.
David,
I find it helpful to sort ideas first with "when", then question assumptions and do a little research with "who" to establish "why". From there, "what" - the content will emerge and finally "how", the very last step, which is dependent on the rest. (And a final "when" will flow out of this process during the "how" stage.)
I'm seeing it like this:
1. Get an idea. I have lots of ideas, but only pursue and think through a few. We could could call this a provisional "what" or "why".
2. For reasons I stated in the "When" article, I put a provisional date to implementing the idea. Basically, that checks my "gut-level" commitment and enthusiasm to the idea. Most ideas don't make it any further than this point. I shelve them.
3. Those ideas that I'll put a provisional date to, I then ask "Who" in order to establish the "why". That's the subject of this month's article.
So, from what you said in your first paragraph I'd say we're in agreement. The reason I don't put "What" as the first question is that many people have what I see as a provisional "What" - the idea - and then start implementing without fully thinking through the context and the purpose.
great blog!! this sounds like a classic case of the 'chicken or the egg', but the answer is...
...it depends ;)
i'm sure you're familiar with roy and walt disney, walt was the visionary but roy was the operations behind the magic. walt had so many great and wonderful ideas and was often inundated with his own brilliance, it was roy who finally told walt to place his great ideas in his desk-drawer and review them periodically. one of these ideas was to have animated humans singing in the theme park, but the technology did not exist at the time. years later, when the technology was ready 'A Small World' was birthed.
the 'what' had to exist before the 'when'...BUT...'when' was critical for the 'what' to come to fruition in it's own time.
great dialogue!
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