The Power of "Why"

If you have had any sort of long term interaction with a small child then you have probably played the "why" game at some point. If you haven't had the pleasure of playing this game it goes something like this:

Small child: Daddy, why do birds fly?

Daddy: Because they have wings.

Small child: Why?

Daddy: Because somewhere along the evolutionary path of that particular bird, wings were more advantageous then arms to the survival of the species.

Small child: Why?

Daddy: It could be for a number of reasons, perhaps that bird lived mostly on a step cliff and flying was more efficient then climbing or perhaps it was that flying was faster than running to avoid being eaten by predators.

Small child: Why?

Daddy: Well because I don't think anything would like to be eaten by a predator.

Small child: Why?

Daddy: Would you like some ice cream?

The "why" game can be fun, it can be annoying, but it is always important. Unlike adults, children have no inhibitions when it comes to asking the question "why.” This is a simple innocent admission of a lack of knowledge, and an expression of curiosity  about the world they observe. These are the first steps in being creative and honestly, wouldn't we want our professional warehouse managers to be creative as well? It is in fact creative minds that solve problems and improve processes.

I think it is easy to see how the "why" game can translate to our warehouses. If we ask the question "why" enough times we will eventually find an area in our process that needs improvement.  Let’s put the why game to the test in some common warehouse situations.

The first example:  an order was shipped to the wrong address. Why? After some research we find the wrong address was printed on the shipping label. Why? The current process involves the clerk manually typing the addresses into the shipping portal. Why? That is the limitation of our current shipping software. Why? Perhaps we need to have a conversation about updating our shipping software to avoid repeating this mistake.

Sticking with the above shipping theme, how about we look at a common problem of the wrong material being shipped to the customer. Why? After some digging we find that the wrong material was picked for the order. Why? We check the bin location and find the wrong material is physically in that bin location even though the WMS states differently. Why? By asking the question why, what started as an apparent shipping error turned picking error has now morphed into a possible receiving error.

I want to be clear that asking "why" will give you a different perspective then asking "how". The two different questions should be asked whenever a process has had a break down, but the "why" question will eventually get you to the root causation of the process break down.  That is very different information then how the process broke down.

If we go over our first scenario again asking only "how" we would get a much different outcome. It would look like this:

An order was shipped to the wrong address. How? After some research we find the wrong address was printed on the shipping label. How? The current process involves the clerk manually typing the addresses into the shipper portal. How? The shipping clerk uses the key board at the shipping computer to input the address in the shipping software.

The main difference in these two questions is that "how" can be answered where as "why" can always continue. Don't believe me? Spend some time with a small, curious, creative child.

So the next time you find yourself faced with processes review, remember the most powerful weapon you have is just too simply ask “why". Then you can focus your creative minds on answering that question. You can keep asking "why" until the process is ready for another test run. Once you and your team are satisfied with an answer you can stop asking "why" and you can all go get some ice cream.

Like what you read? Find my past blog post here:

http://thepallet-jack.blogspot.com/

Feedback is always welcomed!

My name is Matt Austin. I am a Professional Warehouse Manager. I greatly enjoy all areas of warehouse process improvement, and sharing ideas. Please feel free to contact me with any warehouse situations you may be experiencing for some outside perspective. Thank you for reading!