Why Can't Every Answer Be Followed by Another Question?

"Why won't you follow every answer?" This is the age of instant gratification. We want more, faster, cheaper, best! We have our short memory, and are loathe to stop and think. We have the luxury of time; however, what of the rest of life?


I am sure that you have asked yourself this question, "why must I follow these people who want me to do things which are not in my best interest?" How often have you been forced by circumstances or other factors, to do things which really aren't in alignment with your values, goals, and intentions? Even worse, when someone close to you asks you to make a change, you find yourself unable to resist the temptation. "Even if it means upsetting someone else."

There will always be people in your world, other than yourself, who will work hard to guide, push, correct, guide you into moving in the right direction. You may not like them very much, but they are out there, and they will be hard to ignore. Why listen to them? They have a vested interest in making you follow their advice. They have something that you want, or need, and they are willing to do what ever it takes to get it.

Are they really the leaders that you would have us follow? Often times we will go to those people who claim to be the greatest leaders and most beneficial to our lives. Yet, when it comes time to make our own decisions and to take on our own responsibilities, we tend to go back to the others. Why? Because we have been conditioned from our parents, siblings, society, and the list goes on.

The question then becomes, "Why not just follow the guidance that everyone else gives?" This is where the self fulfilling prophecy comes in. When you understand that the person giving the advice has studied all of the books on the subject and spent their entire life in it, you can understand that it can't possibly be wrong.

But why do people go along with it? Is it because they don't know any better, or is it out of fear? Often the latter exists, and you can bet it exists in large measure with the leaders as well. They want to protect the status quo. And, if someone has worked hard at creating a new system, then they will want to preserve that.

If you understand this concept, then you will begin to understand the difference between leadership and management. Leaders are followers. They aren't leaders in charge, they are followers. If they believe in what they are doing, then they can lead, and if they don't believe in what they are doing, then they can follow.

If you have a vision for your organization, then make sure that the leaders that you choose to follow your vision are leaders who aren't afraid to act in the way that you say they should. You need to have a balance between being a leader and being a follower. That is the only way to have power.

A key aspect of leadership is vision. And that is very much part of organizational performance as well. The members of your organization will only follow those leaders who they see as being a part of their organization. So be careful who you follow. It's a lot like choosing your doctor.

Now, here is the really interesting part. Why do some leaders follow exactly what they tell their followers? Why do some leaders get so angry when their followers don't? Here's the answer to that question too: Because they do understand that if every single answer can be followed by another single question, there would be no more questions to ask.

In other words, everything can be explained by a theory. But, if all the answers are already known, then the universe will be contained within those theories, and nothing else would exist. In other words, the future would be contained within the theories of the present. Which means, there will be no forward movement, no evolution, nothing new to learn.


Does that mean, of course, that every single answer can be followed by another? Not necessarily. For one thing, a "can be followed by another" answer might still be subject to change. That's why you need to understand the difference between knowledge and power, and understand that the power to change the behavior of your followers, which in this case is called the future, lies in knowing the future.