In the months following my retirement as a school principal, a unique opportunity emerged that would shift my perspective on the significance of seemingly routine procedures within organizations. This journey began when I joined a global company that tested prototype cars, each cloaked in disguise to safeguard their innovative features. Little did I know this experience would underscore the transformative influence of understanding the "why" behind even the most seemingly trivial tasks.
My engagement with the company was initially a part-time job, providing me the luxury to explore something new. I am a car enthusiast myself, I was eager to immerse myself in the world of preproduction vehicles. Why not? I was retired - time to reinvent myself! The daily work of a preproduction car test driver involves mastering meticulous procedures designed to test these vehicles rigorously under various conditions. It was clear that eliminating variables was imperative for the manufacturer's engineers to draw accurate conclusions. This required my employer to demand an unwavering adherence to tight checklist protocols. From intricate methods to reset a car's computer to unique codes known solely to manufacturers, these procedures formed the basis of the startup and shutdown checklists. The sheer complexity of these checklists illuminated that every minute action could influence outcomes in the realm of engineering experiments. When something went wrong with these newly designed cars, it was actually important to know if the driver had filled the tank with regular or premium gasoline.
As I navigated this new work landscape, I stumbled upon a phenomenon I saw repeatedly as a public school administrator. People will likely forget to follow a standard procedure without the “why” behind it. In Elementary School reading, unless we explain why we need to check the nonsense word reading skills of a first grader every two weeks, it will make about as much sense to the teacher as turning the ignition on a test car to “aux” three times before starting it up. Within my own driver cadre, I’d hear things like, “I wouldn’t worry about that step; it’s just plain idiotic.”
As the weeks went by, I noticed during our early am briefings that what had begun as straightforward bullet points on checklists rapidly evolved into bold, red-flagged imperatives. There was an evident struggle to ensure these steps were noticed, from warnings of performance implications to creating a designated position to oversee adherence. This began to feel a lot like the things we public school leaders would tell teachers to do (but they wouldn’t do): put the lesson outcome on the board! Greet students at the door! Don’t write an email to a parent longer than a paragraph! Without the “why,” teachers frequently ignored these procedures. Then I heard that a driver had put regular rather than premium gas in the test car. This one oversight threatened the entire 100,000-mile test, and the manufacturer threatened to cancel their contract with us.
Suddenly, our morning briefing became very intense. Within this shifting landscape, I was dubbed "The Yard Marshal," tasked with helping fellow drivers understand the rationale behind each procedure. Maybe it was because I assumed there was a significant “why” behind every checklist bullet from my own leadership experience. It turned out I was right. There was. But, being a coach, I didn’t just tell the other drivers what to do; I explained it to them. They loved it. As I delved into the "why" of these actions and explained their connection to the more extensive process, I observed a remarkable transformation in my colleagues. The once-mundane checklists morphed into guides that held purpose and value. Curiosity was sparked, and the intent behind each action became a driving force. The realization struck me: revealing the "why" behind a procedure catalyzed engagement, commitment, and success.
My bosses were both wise and eager learners. They grasped the insights from the Yard Marshal experiment, causing a paradigm shift in our morning meetings. Formerly dominated by threats and compliance, these sessions now revolved around grasping the intentions of manufacturers' engineers. We evolved beyond mere task completion to collectively weaving the intricate fabric of the company's aspirations. The Yard Marshal's role dissolved, replaced by a unified team that appreciated the significance of their actions and the shared impact of their comprehension.
This experience remains a poignant reminder that the "why" isn't an organizational afterthought; it's the bedrock upon which effective procedures are constructed. It caters to our intrinsic yearning for purpose and understanding, breathing life into monotonous tasks. Amid the labyrinthine processes of any entity, let's keep in mind the potency of elucidating the "why" – for it's through comprehension that we unearth the genuine core of our actions, transforming them into something extraordinary.
