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Doris M Holden - Writings

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On Asking "Why"? 


Every small child passes through a period when he asks "What is that?" and “Why?” about everything he sees. It is a trying time for his parents and perhaps the constant command: "Do stop asking questions!" is responsible for the fact that the majority of people, as they grow up, lose the faculty of asking "Why?" end come to take most things for granted.

Now, if you want to succeed in business, you must never let yourself outgrow that childish curiosity. Before you have been long in your first Job, you will discover certain methods which are different from those you have been taught or that seem to be cumbrous and inconvenient. Here is the time to ask - oh, and very tactfully! “Why do we do it this way?" 

You may find that what seems wrong is right for that particular type of  business, as I did once. Starting in a new office, I began to acknowledge letters without instructions, as I had done in my old post, only to have them all scrapped. The terse businesslike style to which I was used was not appropriate to the small personal clientele of my new employer, who knew each individually and addressed to as a friend.

But much more often, the answer to your "Why?" will be

"I don't know. We always have done it that way," or “The girl before me did it that way," 

If you let the matter rest there, you are merely carrying on a chain of inefficiency Make it your business to find out how your process affects other people or other departments, whether, for instance, what seems an out- of-date method of filing is really necessary, or has only been accepted by one person after another without question, 


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Shorthand Typist 16 Jan 34

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