“Why?” Three letters, one word — and one of the simple ones that children learn at the beginning of life. This word strikes fear in adults when they hear it. This should be the fundamental question of life. The answers to this question are far and wide, sometimes what we least expect.

In some groups, workplaces especially, those who ask this question get labeled as dissenters or trouble makers. They have the courage to speak up and try to understand the whole situation they are looking at, but poor leadership does not desire to share the full gravity of the situation, both positive and negative. These question-askers might uncover some issue that needs to be dealt with before it’s too late. The question-askers might be found assigned to mundane work so they cannot interfere with the project schedule. They might also not be given the correct information to fully perform their required job duties. Ultimately the question-asker might be the one who is terminated in a layoff or if the boss needs to sacrifice someone to save themselves and the “yes-man” members of the team.

In Cyclone Nation, this question is required to survive life on-campus. If you just memorize information to pass the test or homework, but don’t ask “why?” you will be the odd person out. Cyclones ask “why?” from the beginning of an initial idea through to the final product and beyond. We also do things collaboratively across disciplines. This is evidenced in the interdisciplinary majors we have that cross colleges, not just departments. Objectively evaluating proposed solutions is what employers and teams need to make proper investments that avoid the extra costs of defects and rework.

“Why?” is also fundamental in basic communication and negotiation. Two years ago I was able to take Negotiation and Conflict Resolution with Dr. James Summers. This class covered identifying the actual needs and wants during the communication process and using those to make a deal where everyone gets most of what they need. It specifically covered a concept called the “best alternative to a negotiated agreement,” or BATNA, and some might call it the walk-away point.

If we can learn to identify our BATNA before we begin to seek something, then we can evaluate the alternatives objectively. One way I used this was in my real estate business. I made an offer on a house that was listed at an above market rate. When the sellers asked to negotiate by countering for slightly less than the listed price, I said no. That revealed the sellers were willing to accept my price for a future closing date. This would allow them to delay tax payment on the sales proceeds. My BATNA was to just walk away since I didn’t have a requirement for obtaining that house. The seller had a BATNA that kept them responsible for maintenance and tax costs, at a minimum. So I had the higher BATNA and was able to leverage that into an agreement where the seller and I both got what we needed out of the transaction.

One way to apply this is with job prospects. We all will be applying for jobs at some point in the future. One of the tips I learned was that we should avoid offering a salary requirement. You can learn this and many other things from attending the Grad College’s Career Conversations series, led by Dr. Svitlana Zbarska, Graduate College Career Services Lead, and her team. Before you start applying for jobs, you should determine your worth for various roles in various locations. This will produce your BATNA numbers. You can have the organization make the first offering of a salary and negotiate from there. If you have options, then it becomes objectively easy to turn down an offer that is lower than your BATNA. Sometimes you are the only qualified person in the applicant pool and can ask for various items from increased salary to bonuses and extra time off. The compensation package starts as what the organization wants it to be, but can ultimately end up being what both you and the organization need. You need to make sure that your next employer is objectively evaluating the Cyclone difference that you will bring to the team, saving them time and money through asking “Why?”