What, Why, Then How: The Depth of Doing Things Right

When we’re young, we’re taught in school how to do things; how things work.  We’re not often taught why or what makes those things what they are, and how they fit in a larger system. Rules, procedures, and steps are handed to us like instructions on an assembly line. We’re often taught how to follow rather than how to think.  The result of this is a generation built on procedural thinking, when in reality, the most effective way to learn and retain information does not start with asking what, but asking why.

When we’re taught how to do something whether it is tying our shoes or solving an equation, we are taught the steps it takes to complete the task. While it may get the job done, it tends to be almost robotic rather than utilizing human cognitive capabilities to their fullest.  It’s essentially promoting unthinking.

When we’re taught why (why shoes are tied a certain way, why a routine follows a specific order) we begin to see the full architecture behind the method. We begin to understand the goal, the intention, and the principles behind the action.  Once we can understand the why, we gain the tools and insight required to refine the how.

This is the critical shift we must understand: What → Why → How.

If you reverse the order like we have previously, jumping straight to how without why, you might become efficient, but never truly effective.  It may complete a task quickly and easily, but not with the depth that we are capable of.  If you understand why you’re doing something, and let that understanding reshape the way you do it, something very powerful happens: your method becomes uniquely your own.  You can slowly but surely  optimize it, with thought and intention.  This is how the most successful people shift from imitation to innovation.

This is how people master their craft; not just by doing things the way they were shown, but by deeply understanding why they were done that way, and then proceeding to build a better way of doing it.

Whether it’s training for a sport, building a business, or learning a skill, the best results are found from those who think first, then act, rather than the other way around.  The power lies in the person who looks behind the curtain.

Once you own the why, you can transform the how.  And when your how is shaped by clarity rather than habit, you won’t just do things right, but better.