Last week, I was meeting with a corporate coach, and she was teaching me this strategy around how to convince people of a point you’re trying to make.  She called it the Five Whys.  In essence, as you prepare for the conversation, you state to yourself the change you want to make (or the stance you’re taking), and then ask yourself, “why”.  After you answer why, you ask why again, and after five times of asking yourself why to each justification, you should have gotten to the root of the issue, and should be able to present it well.

And then this week, my daughter entered the Why Stage.  It happened on Tuesday.  It was like a faucet being turned on full force.  No Whys on Monday, countless Whys on Tuesday.  So now, she’s helping me practice this strategy at home.  Except instead of Five Whys, it’s more like five thousand.

The timing was uncanny.