There are five words that make me slightly nervous whenever I hear them in business.
“We’ve always done it this way.”
Sometimes there’s a perfectly good reason.
A process works.
Customers like it.
The numbers stack up.
Everyone knows what they’re doing.
Fantastic.
But sometimes those words really mean:
“We’ve stopped asking whether there’s a better way.”
And that’s dangerous.
Because the world around our businesses certainly isn’t standing still.
Familiar Doesn’t Mean Right
Humans like familiarity.
We build routines because they make life easier.
Businesses do exactly the same thing.
A process is created to solve a problem.
Over time, the original problem disappears but the process remains.
Nobody questions it because it’s simply “how things work around here”.
Years later, someone asks why.
And nobody knows.
We’ve all encountered it.
The spreadsheet that has to be completed because somebody once needed it.
The meeting everybody attends despite nobody being quite sure what it’s for.
The policy written for a situation that hasn’t existed for years.
The supplier that’s automatically renewed because changing feels like effort.
The event that’s organised exactly the same way every year.
Familiarity can feel safe.
But it can also hide enormous amounts of waste, frustration and missed opportunity.
Curiosity Is an Underrated Leadership Skill
I think good leaders need to be curious.
Not because they need to have all the answers.
Quite the opposite.
Curiosity allows us to admit that we might not know.
Why do we do it this way?
What would happen if we stopped?
Who does this process actually help?
Could somebody else do this better?
Has technology changed what’s possible?
Does this still reflect our values?
If we were starting the business today, would we design it like this?
That last question is particularly powerful.
Because businesses accumulate baggage.
If you could start again tomorrow without any legacy systems, processes or expectations, what would you do differently?
The answers can be uncomfortable.
They’re also incredibly useful.
Change Doesn’t Always Mean Technology
Whenever we talk about innovation in business, conversation quickly turns to technology.
AI.
Automation.
Software.
Data.
They’re transforming how organisations work and creating extraordinary opportunities.
But innovation isn’t necessarily digital.
Sometimes innovation is changing the way a meeting works.
Changing how you communicate with employees.
Changing a supplier.
Removing a pointless process.
Creating a different customer experience.
Giving somebody more autonomy.
Turning something formal into something human.
Innovation simply means being willing to imagine that the current way isn’t the only way.
Ask the People Doing the Job
One of the easiest mistakes leaders can make is assuming they understand every part of their organisation.
We don’t.
The person closest to a problem often understands it far better than the person sitting furthest up the organisational chart.
Ask your team:
What wastes your time?
You might be horrified by the answers.
Ask:
If you could change one thing about how we work, what would it be?
Then listen.
Really listen.
Don’t immediately explain why their suggestion is impossible.
Don’t defend the current system.
Be curious.
There may be a perfectly valid reason things can’t change.
But there may also be a ridiculously easy improvement nobody has made because nobody thought they were allowed to question it.
Psychological Safety Matters
Of course, people only challenge established thinking when they feel safe enough to do so.
If every new idea is met with:
“We tried that in 2017.”
“That won’t work.”
“You don’t understand.”
“We haven’t got the budget.”
“That’s not how we do things.”
people eventually stop offering ideas.
And then leaders wonder why nobody is innovative.
Innovation doesn’t begin with a brainstorming workshop.
It begins with a culture where people are allowed to say:
“This doesn’t make sense.”
without worrying about what happens next.
That’s conscious leadership too.
Sustainability Requires Us to Question Normal
This willingness to challenge established thinking is particularly important when it comes to sustainability.
Many environmentally damaging practices exist not because somebody deliberately chose the worst option.
They exist because that’s simply how things have always been done.
We buy something.
Use it.
Throw it away.
Buy another.
We travel because that’s how the meeting has always happened.
We print things because we’ve always printed them.
We buy from the same supplier because we’ve always bought from them.
Then someone asks:
“Why?”
And suddenly alternatives appear.
Real sustainability requires more than replacing one product with a greener version.
Sometimes we need to question whether we needed the product in the first place.
Purpose Gives Change a Direction
Change for the sake of change can be exhausting.
Businesses don’t need to reinvent themselves every Tuesday.
The important thing is knowing why you’re changing.
This is where purpose becomes useful.
When you understand the kind of organisation you’re trying to build, you can assess old habits against that direction.
Does this still serve our purpose?
Does it help our people?
Does it improve the customer experience?
Does it make financial sense?
Does it support the impact we’re trying to create?
If yes, keep doing it.
If not, perhaps it’s time to ask whether familiarity is the only reason it survives.
I’ve Had to Learn This Myself
It’s very easy to write about challenging conventional thinking.
It’s much harder when somebody challenges your thinking.
That’s leadership for you.
I’ve had ideas I was convinced were brilliant that weren’t.
I’ve had to change plans.
I’ve had to listen to people who knew more than I did.
I’ve held onto things longer than I should have.
I’ve also taken risks that probably looked completely ridiculous from the outside.
Some worked.
Some didn’t.
But I think one of the most important lessons entrepreneurship teaches you is that being wrong isn’t fatal.
Refusing to change when the evidence is staring you in the face can be considerably more dangerous.
Create Space to Think
One reason businesses get stuck in old patterns is that everybody is busy.
When you’re moving from meeting to meeting, responding to customers, dealing with problems and trying to hit targets, there isn’t much time left to question how the machine works.
That’s why stepping away matters.
It could be an away day.
A walk.
Time travelling.
A conversation with somebody outside your industry.
An hour without your phone.
Anything that creates enough distance to see your organisation differently.
Some of my most useful ideas haven’t arrived while sitting at a desk trying desperately to have a useful idea.
They’ve appeared when I’ve created enough space for my brain to wander.
Leaders need thinking time.
And no, I don’t mean thinking while answering emails.
Don’t Be Afraid to Be the Person Who Asks Why
There’s often pressure in business to look as though you know what you’re doing.
But some of the most powerful leadership questions are incredibly simple.
Why?
Why not?
What if?
Children ask them constantly.
Then somewhere along the way we learn to stop.
Perhaps businesses need a little more of that curiosity.
The next time somebody says:
“We’ve always done it this way.”
don’t automatically assume the existing way is wrong.
But don’t assume it’s right either.
Ask why.
Understand the reason.
Look at what has changed.
Listen to the people involved.
Consider the alternatives.
Then make a conscious decision.
Maybe you’ll decide the old way is still the best way.
Brilliant.
At least now you’re doing it because you’ve chosen to.
Not simply because nobody remembered to ask the question.
