Focus on the How and Why, Not What

By Shlomo Maital  

    My friend Bilahari Kausikan is a seasoned Singaporean diplomat, and the wisest of persons.  His perspectives are based on decades of service in Russia, US and elsewhere. And from time to time, he now has time to share his wisdom in speeches and articles.

     Here is a nugget I captured, from a recent talk he gave at a conference honoring the 100th birthday of Singapore’s founding President Lee Kwan Yew:

    “It is crucial that we face uncertainties with the psychological poise that comes from putting events in perspective, neither down-playing nor exaggerating their significance, seeing them in context – we generally pay too much attention to events and not enough attention to the processes of which they are part — understanding and responding to events on their own terms rather than projecting our hopes or fears onto them.”

   Indeed, I myself do this all the time – focus on what is happening, and not on the underlying ‘why’ and ‘how’.  This partly explains political polarization —  how we divide into two polar camps, at each extreme, with the ‘middle’ sane moderate and empathic center emptying almost totally.  Why is the other side acting this way?  How is this motivated?  Where are the underlying causes?  How can I understand the process?

   Great leaders and statespersons do this all the time.  They grasp the ‘why’, the process, and take action accordingly – often in ways that are unpopular.  This is what Israel’s leader David Ben Gurion did, in choosing to declare independence in  1948, when everyone told him it was folly.  And similarly  Singapore’s Lee Kwan Yew.

    And, as an aside —  take R&D.  It is expensive.  And very risky.  But – when you invest in improving processes,  you get a far higher return, and suffer ar less risk, than when you try to invent a totally new product.

     The world is driven by the ‘why’.  Let’s try to understand the ‘why’ far better.  Perhaps it might bring us closer together?  Maybe….