thoughts.on.code

Scott Berkun, author of The Art of Project Management says in the preface of the book that his favorite question is “How?”. I must say that its succint power suprised me. It strikes me as an engineering mind set, trying to figure out what exactly needs to be done to get the desried outcome. Great for project management, and many other tasks that a programmer might face over their careers. I really like that question, and it got me thinking about what my favorite question is.

My favorite question has for a long time been another succint question; “Why?”. Not the “Why?” of a four-year-old questioning authority (and everything else), but of someone who thinks they understand the “How” (for the most part - not always easy) and is trying to understand what the reasoning is behind it. It can also be the “Why?” of “Why are we doing it this way?” or “Why do we need this?”. Again, not out of an authority complex, but out of a genuine desire to know why things are necessary (and hopefully to figure how to do it better).

I think your favorite question has a lot to say about you and your approach to hinking about software development. So, what is your favorite question? Why?