Asking Why...?

When I was training to be a coach, they advised us to avoid asking our clients ‘Why ?’ because ‘it can evoke defensive justification’.

I ignore that bit of advice quite a lot.

For me, ‘Why ?’ is one of the most powerful questions we can ask. ‘Why is it done that way ?’, ‘Why did you do that ?”, ‘Why do I avoid the work I so desperately want to do ?’ - unless we ask why, we never get to the root of the problem, which makes finding a solution that much harder.

I love asking ‘Why ?’ In fact, I love asking it almost as much as asking ‘Why not…?’