Easy said. How is it done?

One technique that I’ve been practicing recently is to ask “why” 5 times. Even if the answer seems to be satisfactory, don’t stop until you get to at least 5 “why” questions.

Why?

Because more often then not a request or a statement may not be as direct as it seems. And because challenging assumptions is critical to progress.

I was reading Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge’s Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and noticed a statement that puts a spin on a very typical business question–who is my customer:

Figure out who your customers are and where they go for information

Usually, we only think of understanding who the customer is.  We don’t necessarily think of defining how my customer communicates, or who or what my customer sees as an influence agent, or where my customer gets her information.

It’s time we start asking ourselves what else there is to ask before we continue too long down the path of old assumptions.