Five whys

Due to recent unforeseen events, at work, I am tasked with extra responsibilities daily. Some tasks are easy and can get done with a few hours of heavy spreadsheeting, others I wouldn't even know were on my to-do list until brought to my attention. Other tasks, instead, are coming towards me carefully wrapped under the blanket term of 'workgroup'.

Workgroups are strange beasts to tackle and I find it extremely useful to know who's participating and, of course, what the situation is. The first breakthrough usually happens when someone finally mentions the elephant in the room. This speeds up the whole process of identifying what's not working and what the group has tried to fix the challenge, including what has worked and what has not.

Then, depending on what kind of workgroup I have been thrown into, everyone is either asking questions, making assumptions, or explaining what has worked for them in the past. However, the other day, I have been summoned into a group where the five W's were the main focus.

There I was, sitting among a group of people I would have never thought to see together, straight-up believing these five W's were, quite literally, five key points along the lines of where, when, who, why...

Imagine my confusion, realising I did not come prepared and did not get the memo of the fifth W!

Turns out, it wasn't five W's but five why's.

At times, memories take over and I find myself daydreaming and reminiscing about past times, different places, people I have met. Well, during that workgroup, a night of improv theatre training came to mind. We had to find our characters' deep motivation by stating a characteristic and completing each other's sentences answering a hypothetical 'why'.

I am always positive

and that's because there's plenty of love in my family

and that's because I have seven moms and seven dads

and that's because this is what our guru commands

and that's because Melbourne is now ruled by the church of Venus

There you go, in a few easy steps, you have a complete setting for some interesting character dynamics.

While I was thinking about hypothetical worlds and improv sketches, the workgroup continued and, honestly, I am glad I had one good point to make before the end of the hour.

It happens.

This should prove the point that, sometimes, we are more resourceful than we think we are. Nobody would think improv theatre could teach any transferrable skill you could use at work, but the five why's were a familiar concept all along!

I know some people may find it challenging to be thrown into the deep end unprepared and may even feel like outright imposters.

Why am I even part of this workgroup? I am the least experienced! I don't even know the topic... What's that fifth W again?

But, like with everything in life, once you have done it, you can't say you've never done it!

This is also what I repeat to my elderly patients when they are afraid of technology.

Not saying that I feel like an old Barbara starting a video-call for the first time, but also yes that's exactly how I feel most of the time.

I remember a mentoring manager saying that it is expected of people in key positions to say yes, and figure it out later. Put yourself in the arena, do the thing, you can only learn from it.

Which is exactly what I learned by reading an article about Kim Kardashian's assistant’s career.

Cut to me daydreaming about articles I've read and what else is stored in my memory that I could use to seem smart at work.



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