What, Why & How - by Gavin Neate, Founder of WelcoMe

"In the past, "What”, “Why” and “How” were never seen apart; from childhood to adulthood, they were true friends and inseparable, but more than that, when they combined their individual talents, they were a formidable force for good.

Despite all being totally different, when they had a chance to meet up, their passion for problem solving and real societal progress invariably led to a tangible and deliverable solution to one of their identified problems.

Image description: Three young adult friends hiking on a trail by the coast, full length

They had the best of relationships, met regularly, and were always buzzing with new ideas and solutions. They were easily the most productive group of people you could ever hope to meet.

“What” was super aware of his surroundings, always telling the other two about things he had observed. He was always keen to point out the beauty in the world and how magnificent life was, but he was also incredibly astute and was always on the lookout for things that perhaps weren’t working so well and that he thought could be improved by the group's unique talents.

“Why” was a truly inquisitive chap, a bit like we all are when we are younger, he always wanted to know how things worked or was keen to find out why they weren’t working so well. He wouldn’t move on to the next subject until he had a complete grasp of all aspects of a problem and reported them back to the group. He prided himself on avoiding jumping to conclusions, based on someone else’s assumptions and was a skilled researcher.

“What” loved him like a brother, and although he thought his thirst for knowledge could be a bit obsessive, his questions were always well-observed and got right to the heart of the matter.

“Why” was always keen to find out the reasons the world operated as it did and loved his meetings with "What,"  especially when he was on one of his missions to tell everyone about a problem he had observed. “Why” loved investigating problems.

Their best pal was "How.” “How” was a planner and a thinker, but above all, a person of action. How, are we going to fix it? They would ask her after they had observed and studied an issue! She was one of life’s problem solvers, and there was no holding her back once she had the bit between her teeth. There was literally nothing that “What” bought up and “Why” investigated that she didn’t want to find a solution for.

Together, they were an amazing team, and there were few days that went by without them getting together and combining all of their skills to find solutions to the problems they encountered.

One day, during a conversation about efficiency, they came up with an idea, which would mean that although they wouldn’t meet up in person, it would enable them to address issues more efficiently. They discussed the pros and cons of this, as they really liked their face-to-face collaborations, but it was decided that if they went "online,” they could make their chats so much more efficient and productive, and they could make even more of a difference.

“What” would post on Social media about an issue he had seen

Image description: Search Engines and SEO (Search engine optimization)

“Why” would take his research to a new level using search engines

Image description: The word Solution on a product box to megaphone or bullhorn to spread an idea or innovation to solve your problem or challenge

“How” would be able to head to her shed and fix the problems they had identified and present them to public acclaim.

The concept was amazing and they all agreed that this could enable them to change the world like never before…

Sadly, unbeknownst to them, this was also the moment it all went wrong.

“What”, true to his word, posted whenever he saw an issue. In fact, he found that it was possible to post and repost like never before, and more than that, others started sending him their own observations, and he could post and like and share these too. He joined Patreon and became so popular for pointing out problems through his regular rants on his YouTube channel that he started making a decent income. The more he complained, the more he made, and he loved it.

He was inundated with friend requests, and soon his popularity and the expectations of his followers meant that he had little time to speak directly with “Why” and “how"—other than to tag them in his rants. He had never thought that pointing out others' failings could make him so popular, and soon he lost interest in also telling people about the beauty there was in the world.

“Why” was not having such a good time of it, though. He was inundated with “What’s” rants, and despite his best efforts when he wrote to him for more information, all he ever got was more links to even more rants. No one seemed interested in asking why the issues occurred in the first place and instead seemed to be content with just shouting about their perceived injustices.

“Why”, gave up communicating directly with “What” and decided to put his efforts into his research. Every four years, he would publish a report and post about it through his blog. He didn’t have many followers, but he felt some satisfaction that if ever someone wanted to look back and find out what it was like to live during this period, then at least they would have a record of why things had stopped working.

Although “Why” had stopped meeting up with "What,” he occasionally met up with "How,” but it was apparent that the relationship was broken.

“How” felt that “Why” was so focussed on publishing his research that it was impossible to get to the source of the problems, and they gradually grew apart. Their relationship had been about solving things, but few people seemed interested any more.

“How” was ultimately a doer, though, so she spent her life addressing things around her house and loved her little trips to the shed at the bottom of her garden, where she came up with solutions to problems she imagined might need to be solved. ‘How” tinkered away and even came up with a fantastic new energy source, spending a couple of days feeling pretty darn happy with her efforts before putting it into a cupboard and moving on to her next project.

Conclusions..

I'm pretty certain you will have drawn your own, and I'm hoping that it isn’t to go straight on to social media and post about the massive increase in people complaining on social media these days.

No, if I have a conclusion at all, especially if you are a “What” type of person, it is to take a moment, count to ten, and ask yourself if you have considered why something is as it is before you post about how much it triggers you. Also, and it’s not for everyone, but if you can get past the why, you might even find yourself contemplating how it can be fixed.

At that point, smile, look around, find others who are also keen to progress society, discuss, study, research, listen, and ultimately perhaps share together then we can get the gang back together again.

Image description: three stick characters embracing each other

\