This post by Seth Godin on "The why imperative" got me thinking about the power of that little word why.The university environment is a fascinating mix of innovation and entrenchment, of cutting-edge ideas and slow-moving systems. University researchers grew a beating heart in a lab, yet a unit's Web site redesign can get stuck in committee for years.
Each unit and department has its own view of "the way we do things." That is important, and I am not advocating change for change's sake. We are lucky to work within a trusted and established brand, and decisions on communications strategy need to be well thought out and supported by research.
I am, however, advocating for us to make sure we have a good answer to why we do the things we do. (And "because that's how we've always done it" is not a good enough answer.)
I'm also proposing we embrace that other favorite question of children: So what?
What would happen if your department's communications decisions had to go through a stubborn three-year-old?
"We need a brochure for our program."
"Why?"
"Because our program is new."
"So what?"
"So we want people to know we exist."
"Why?"
"Because we think the information we have will help them."
"Why?"
"Because it's information we haven't seen anywhere else."
"So what?"
"So we need to get the information to our audience so they can use it."
Now our hypothetical three-year-old has gotten to the real goal. Programs often request an end product without thinking through the problem they want to solve. Our three-year-old has helped us find the objective, so we can work with the program to determine whether a brochure is the best way to achieve this goal.
Now, let's discuss nap time...
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