Excellent point. One area in which the why's could be given better is code provisions. I realize that standards cover much area and must be succinct, but sometimes it can be deucedly hard to find out why various provisions are as they are. (Often I find out by back-door ways rather than from regulators that actually know anything.)

It is very refreshing to see the point of adding the "why" to the "how" be discussed...

My 1st post on this site was "outside" the box and the resident genius's in here treated me like a goldfish in an Oscar tank. Being bold and different is fine but you have to address the proper audience or you're completely wasting your time.

After reading the post, my initial reaction was one of "Well Duh!! Everyone knows that!" But then it dawned on me that most engineers quite frankly do NOT know that when you include the "why" as part of your instruction, the desired results are far better realized.

It is almost sad that we find this revelation as enlightening when it should be second nature to engineers. One core characteristic of most every engineer is his/her fascination with the "how and why" things work, or react. This fascination is one of the reasons we seek out the engineering disciplines as our career choice.

Perhaps, the only thing that might be sadder is our inherent arrogance around those with a lesser education and understanding of our chosen field. Our arrogance tends to create our focus on instruction for "how I want you to do this" rather than "Let me show you how/why this works after you do...."

I am continually amazed by the fact that the smarter I feel, the less wise I become. Something as simple as including the "why" in our instructions makes so much more sense yet we need to be reminded of that by the very wise, and astute Mr. Eisermann. Shame on those of us who didn't already now this fact and show pity for the ignorant fools who dare not to take heed to it going forward.

As Fredski points out, your audience needs to be interested. While we're at our day jobs, most involved are interested in "why." But in other professions, tending to be more blue-collar in my experience, either the organization or the student body considers "why" to be a waste of time or an invitation to unwanted chaos when people start thinking for themselves. If your Marines keep mulling over why they're assaulting that position and how what they're doing fits into the big picture, the position might not get assaulted.

There are also many situations where a little knowledge is dangerous.

Finally, when one is working as a consultant, often the client is just interested in getting their problem solved. If you're lucky, there might be a person(s) at the customer site who actually cares to know why/what you're doing, and it might also make business sense for you to share your knowledge.

Hi Norm,

Concerning with your sentences: "We all have had an experience in our lives or careers when we were told to do something a different way without being told why and thought…"that is crazy it won't work". Had the teacher, supervisor, manager or parent focused more on sharing the why, I believe the outcome would have been better received and more likely retained." Sure, we all haveat least once.

It's true and happens more often than should that people don't listen and understand verbal explanations. However, the most often they are not able to remember to understand what was said, partially or completely. Why? Because memory has a formidable and powerful capacity to forget things, at least momentarily, most importantly the significant explanations.

How to remedy to that?

My suggestion is the following: Write down in detail as STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE what is the explication, change in the operation or in the machineries. People cannot forget what is on paper and they will follow "a la lettre". They are safe by understanding the duty, the process and the operation and you will be happy to see the good execution and result.

The E-MAIL system is a good example for these problems. When someone doesn't understand an explanation, ask for more details, and send. It's simple and very effective.

If the result, the outcome is not satisfactory, you have a deeper problem than just communication, Gil.