A little while ago I watched a talk recorded at TEDGlobal in October 2014 by Ricardo Semler titled “How to run a company with (almost) no rules” (http://www.ted.com/talks/ricardo_semler_radical_wisdom_for_a_company_a_…). The talk is described as “radical wisdom for a company, a school, a life” and is an engaging and thought-provoking way to spend 21 minutes and 42 seconds. Given that Perceptual Control Theory (PCT; www.pctweb.org) could also be described as “radical wisdom for a company, a school, a life” I was interested to hear what Ricardo had to say.
There was lots of fascinating information in the talk but, for me, one of Ricardo’s comments stood out above the rest. In the transformative work he has conducted, Ricardo described a tool he uses which involves asking three whys in a row. He begins explaining this tool at about the 17 minute mark and he says “what we’ve done all of these years is very simple is used a little tool which is ask three whys in a row because the first why you always have a good answer for, the second why starts getting difficult, by the third why you don’t really know why you’re doing what you’re doing.”
I’m a strong believer in the “why, why, why” approach but for different reasons from Ricardo.
PCT suggests that we are organised as a hierarchy of control systems with each level of control system controlling a more complex perception than the level below. Experientially, this means that important, highly valued, and abstract goals are at high levels in the hierarchy and more concrete and tangible goals are lower in the hierarchy.
Fascinatingly, to achieve our higher level goals we adjust the goals at lower levels. Have you ever perhaps not been as honest as you could be because you wanted to spare the feelings of someone you are close to? This is a great example of how we can alter the amount of honesty we express so that we continue to experience the level of relationship closeness we prefer.
In very tangible and important ways, therefore, the concrete goal of “getting to work on time” might be related to the more abstract goal of “making the world a better place”. Similarly, achieving the goal of “getting dinner on the table” may help a person “be the parent I want to be”.
Knowing about the hierarchical structure of goals and experiences can be useful when people feel lost or confused or unsure of what’s important. Helping people shift their attention to the higher level goals in their hierarchy can often be just what is needed for people to regain their sense of purpose and vitality.
The Method of Levels (MOL; www.methodoflevels.com.au) is an approach to helping people resolve psychological distress that helps people, in a targeted and explicit fashion, shift their awareness to levels above the problems they are currently thinking about. MOL uses a more sophisticated questioning routine than “why, why, why” but the purpose is the same. Helping people focus less on the actual problem and more on the beliefs, attitudes, values, and expectations underlying the problem seems to be a very useful thing to do.
Once people come to understand themselves and their important motivations more clearly, they can evaluate for themselves whether the road they are currently on is likely to take them in the direction they wish to travel. The 3Y attitude of questioning what might be stirring in the background of people’s awareness is a simple but powerful way of attending to the important essence of any goal that is currently being pursued. Next time you’re feeling confused or uncertain of where you’re heading ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing, and then ask why to the answer you come up with, and why to that, and why to that.
Three whys are often enough to arrive at an interesting and useful place but if three aren’t enough, keep asking: Who knows how much of you there is to discover?
