Six Honest Men and the Seven dWarfs

The classic poem, Six Honest Men, by Rudyard Kipling, aptly describes the interrogative words we can use in our creative thinking and in our research for projects both personal and organisational.

The six honest men are what many refer to as the 6Ws:

What

Who

Where

When

Why

HoW

These are often used by journalists, researchers, and police investigators as a formula for getting the complete story on a particular subject.

In my view, there is a missing W, the word Which.

So I use the term The Seven dWarfs as my “string tied to my finger” for the 7 Ws

What

Who

Where

When

Why

HoW

Which

Now before I share with you a simple example of how I have used this in my Import/Export Courses over the years, let’s first read Rudyard Kipling’s savvy poem.

Six Honest Men

I KEEP six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who.

I send them over land and sea,

I send them east and west;

But after they have worked for me,

I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,

For I am busy then,

As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,

For they are hungry men.

But different folk have different views;

I know a person small—

She keeps ten million serving-men,

Who get no rest at all!

She sends'em abroad on her own affairs,

From the second she opens her eyes—

One million Hows, two million Wheres,

And seven million Whys!

- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

The Elephant's Child

As a side note, having read the poem again just now, I am reminded of my three daughters asking what seemed hundreds of questions when they were young. Also, a friend would leave her daughter Alison with us early in the morning while she would go shopping.

I would be making my breakfast; an Alison would ask what seemed like dozens of questions about what I was doing. After a few weeks of this, once she asked the first question, I would then give a running commentary of everything I was doing for the next few minutes to curb her curiosity.

Anyway, let’s get back to The Seven dWarfs and the 7 Ws

I have used the 7 Ws in my Imports Export Course over the years and also at seminars and conferences.

Below is a slide from the Sydney Import Export Show back in 2010.

The points while self explanatory, are expanded upon in my presentation. (I will spare you that elaboration here except for the 7th W, Which.)

To me the “Which” is a most important question for those considering Importing or Exporting and probably for many other business decisions.

Why? You may well ask.

Because all the other 6 questions may provide a variety of answers for each. It then behooves the decision maker/s to consider the pros and cons of the various options for each point in each question and then make a final decision.

For the decisions of each of the answers to What and Why and When and How and Where and Who, there will be implications for each of the other 6.

This becomes a matrix of decision making and in Import/Export these are quite complex and the ramifications far reaching.

What do you think of the Which Questions?

Have you some examples to share?

If so, please do so below in the comments section.

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