Years ago, there was concern about the deterioration of stone on the Jefferson Monument in Washington D.C. The beautiful white limestone exterior finish was being ruined.
The National Park Service is responsible for this monument to Thomas Jefferson as well was every other national monument. Their concern sparked an investigation. It was discovered that the cleaning product being used more frequently than usual was corroding the façade of the stone.
What was the solution?
It may seem the obvious remedy was to change the cleaning solution. Yet they wondered why the building had to be cleaned so frequently when they learned that there were unsightly bird droppings covering the building.
Nearby pigeons were constantly perching on the memorial. Perhaps the answer may be to get rid of the birds. But why, they asked, were the pigeons so attracted to this building? Wouldn’t the best remedy be to find a way to rid themselves of the birds? But instead of a quick fix, they continued to investigate until they discovered the root cause.
Why were so many birds attracted to the edifice? Further examination unveiled the fact that bugs were covering the building at night. Some might say the next step would be to exterminate the masses of bugs. That could have been the answer, but they continued to probe into the problem. Why were the bugs there in the first place? Why would they be attracted to the structure?
They discovered that the night lights flooding the exquisite white limestone memorial were attracting these bugs and instinctively the birds would come to eat the bugs while soiling the outside of this structure. Then the Park Service determined if they would have the lights turned off at 10 p.m. every night when there weren’t any tourists around, the bugs would not cover the monuments. Thus, the birds would not be perching on the building throughout the night, leaving droppings all over. In turn, the building would not have to be cleaned with that toxic cleaner that was detrimental to the surface of the memorial.
As they got to the root of the problem and simply turned off the lights at night, the problem was solved. Seems pretty simple. They found the core of the serious issue.
Often as humans, we jump to the first conclusion, believing we understand the problem. We choose a quick fix, or make a snap judgement about others. Instead of asking more questions to determine the root of the problem, drilling down to the core, we instantly think we can identify why people act or react the way they do. Instead, we need to open our closed minds and think of what is motivating ourselves, co-workers, spouses, children or neighbors to behave in some particular manner.
Why isn’t the team in the office using the prescribed protocol?
Is it hard to understand?
Is there something that could be done to simplify the process?
Ask the whys. Why isn’t my spouse doing this and why are my children doing that?
Pause long enough to be more understanding, more empathetic. Snap judgements are not always the best method to make decisions or make course corrections. Seek to understand our own motivating factors. Be patient while you drill down to the problems others in your life are presenting. Instead of quickly judging and defining people, realize there is probably an underlying issue and ask the whys. If it’s not your responsibility to solve the issue, just know that there are probably more layers to why people behave as they do.
A quick fix often only resolves the surface issue and wastes resources that could otherwise tackle the real core problem. Cut through the outward solution of a problem that seems it will resolve the concern and mentally drill down to the underlying cause so the problem can be fixed once and for all.
Keep asking the whys.
Click here to read the April issue of Idaho Falls Magazine.