small business

The Three Why's of Wisdom

The Three Why's of Wisdom

We recently listened to a TED talk by Ricardo Semler (FIG’s new hero!) and were blown away by the parallels to something we’ve talked about in past offerings rather a lot. He believes that if “we simply ask why we do things and devolve power to employees, we’re able to to create wiser companies - ones that are simultaneously more productive and have a happier workforce.” In the talk, he discusses the 3 “whys” we as professionals ought to be asking ourselves. He says “the first “why”: you always have a good answer for. The second “why”: it starts getting difficult. By the third “why”: you don't really know why you're doing what you're doing.

Ahh yes, that elusive “WHY!” Why is “why” so important? One of the most pervasive questions we received developing FIG 6 years ago was, “What’s your “why”’ for starting this thing? It’s an important inquiry, and one which has taken a ton of intentional introspection, thought and time to answer. It’s an evolutionary process that has expanded in nuance as FIG has matured; But enough about our company. Let’s dig in and talk about “why,” shall we?