So What?

What a cool question?

How often do we use it? When should we use it?

Interviewer: So, tell me about yourself?

Interviewee: eh, eh, eh, well I am a good communicator?? a good team player...eh eh I have a good personality, I work well with others...

SO WHAT?

Consider this CV profile...

"A highly motivated and skilled individual who is always well presented and a good company advocate. Works well under pressure whilst delivering duties effectively and accurately. Can work in a team setting or alone unsupervised. Willing to join an organisation where he/she can develop new skills building on existing experience."

SO WHAT?

So what about this post! Asking So What? puts you in someone else's shoes, the interviewer, the person you meet at a networking event, the investor you are pitching your idea to. This sort of thinking and questioning allows you into their decision making process. If you want to influence someone the first principal you must understand is that people are motivated for their reasons, not yours. So what?

Johnny Bunko taught us a valuable lesson - Rule Number 3: It's not about YOU!! This isn’t an abstract moral point about selflessness. It is the common sense piece of arithmetic that says you need to exchange that self-actualizing stuff you love to do for the money to buy the stuff and services you need to survive. Therefore you need to find a way to do what you love in a way that makes somebody want to pay you....

SO What?

The reason why Miles Davis was considered the greatest Jazz musician of all time, was not because of the notes he played, but the notes he did not play...