Why Are We Still Doing It This Way?

Have you ever questioned why something was being done a certain way only to hear, “Because that’s the way we’ve always done it”?

There is tremendous value in experience and tradition. We shouldn’t change something simply for the sake of changing it. But there’s an important difference between continuing to do something because it still works and continuing to do it simply because it’s familiar.

Every Thanksgiving I am reminded of a story involving a friend who would cut the legs off the turkey before putting it in the oven.

I had never heard of anyone doing that before, so naturally I was curious.

I don’t eat the drumsticks anyway, so I even wondered whether this was some cooking technique I should consider adopting myself.

I asked why they did it.

The answer was simple.

“Because my mother always did it that way.”

Fair enough.

Except I later learned there was a reason their mother had cut the legs off the turkey.

Her oven was too small to fit the entire turkey.

What had begun as a perfectly reasonable solution to a specific problem had eventually become a family tradition.

The problem disappeared.

The tradition remained.

It’s interesting how easily that happens.

And not just with Thanksgiving turkeys.

It happens every day in the organizations we lead.

Processes and procedures are usually created for a reason. At some point, they solved a problem, met a need, reduced a risk, or helped the organization operate more effectively.

But organizations change.

Technology changes.

People change.

Circumstances change.

And sometimes the original reason for doing something disappears while the process itself lives on.

We produce reports nobody reads.

We hold meetings whose original purpose has disappeared.

We maintain approval processes designed to solve problems that no longer exist.

We continue using systems because they’re familiar while ignoring better alternatives because learning them would require us to step outside our comfort zone.

Nobody deliberately decides, “Let’s keep doing something that no longer makes sense.”

It happens gradually.

We become comfortable with the way things are.

We stop questioning why.

And eventually we’re cutting the legs off a turkey that fits perfectly well in the oven.

Adaptability doesn’t mean changing everything simply because something newer comes along. There are traditions, processes, and principles that continue to serve us extremely well.

The challenge for leaders is knowing the difference.

We have to periodically step back and ask whether the reasons behind our practices still exist.

If they do, keep doing what works.

If they don’t, perhaps it’s time to adapt.

Where might I be holding onto tradition a little too tightly?

When was the last time I asked why we do something the way we do it?

What process or practice might still exist even though the problem it was designed to solve no longer does?

CHALLENGE
Pick one process, meeting, report, procedure, or routine you regularly follow and ask one simple question:
Why do we still do it this way?
Don’t assume it needs to change.
But don’t assume it doesn’t.
Take a look. You might be surprised by what you learn.