I observed a team reflecting on their service delivery process, and it seemed incredibly uncoordinated and inefficient.
“Why do you do it that way?” I asked.
The answer came immediately: “That’s how we have always done it, at least since I have been here.”
No further thought required. No questions asked. Just blind repetition of an inherited process that nobody had examined for years.
This happens everywhere: in bootstrapped startups, Fortune 500 boardrooms, hospital emergency rooms, and factory floors. People inherit systems, follow them religiously, and then wonder why progress stalls.
The most dangerous phrase in business isn’t “let’s try something new.” It’s “that’s how we’ve always done it.”
Processes calcify over time. What once made sense becomes outdated. What once solved problems now creates them. The original context vanishes, but the behavior remains, unquestioned.
When Jeff Bezos noticed employees using tables as desks at Amazon, he asked why. The answer: “That’s what we’ve always used.” He turned this into the “door desk” – an actual door with four legs – cutting costs while creating cultural identity.
Your leadership philosophy must institutionalize questioning. Not just tolerance for questions, but expectation of them.
The simplest inquiry often yields the greatest result: Why are we doing it this way?
Follow-ups matter too:
- What problem was this process designed to solve?
- Does that problem still exist?
- What would we do if we started fresh today?
- What happens if we stop doing this entirely?
Toyota built a global empire on this principle. Their production system gives any employee the authority to stop the manufacturing line and ask: “Why this way?”
The leadership paradox: you must simultaneously build systems while questioning their continued relevance. Create a structure while inviting the disruption of that structure.
What process in your organization deserves fresh eyes today?
