The Power of Why

Mondays are always hectic.  But they are also great days to think about how the new week could be better than the week before.  To start off the week, here are some thoughts on the power of the question “Why?”, inspired by RMS President & CEO, Brad Jones, and RMS Senior Support Specialist, Christopher Ebling.

One of the dangers within any organization or business is that people stop asking “why?”  When they’ve been in a role for a long time they neglect to ask questions like, “Why are we doing things this way?” Instead of thinking about the process, they go on autopilot.  No matter what your goals, complacency is not something that any pharmacy can afford.

So this week, I encourage you to do two things.

First, define the why.  Ask yourself, “Why do you do what you do?”, and do not answer with “to make a living so I can feed my family and put a roof over our heads”.  We all have those reasons.  What’s the why that drives you underneath all of that? 

Second, take a moment to make sure that your pharmacy employees know that they can ask you “why?” If they have a question about why something is done a particular way, or an idea about how to do something better, make sure they feel comfortable bringing it up. 

Embracing the “why” question doesn’t cost you anything, and can result in some big gains for your pharmacy. It will turn you into a business that people want to work for, instead of one they have to work for.