Why is a word that can cause you more problems than it solves.

It's true that "why" is a question that works fine in technical or scientific contexts. When used in project management contexts, however, it can have two undesirable effects:

1. It can lead to confusion because people may not know why. Sometimes we don't know the reasons things happen or people did what they did. So asking creates confusion because the person legitimately doesn't know the answer and feels put on the spot. People can easily shut down or withdraw in those situations.

2. It can trigger feelings of condemnation or defensiveness. We can easily imagine a parent or authority figure confronting a child over something wrong the child did. "Why did you do that?" Usually accompanied by a pointing finger, a raised voice, or an angry look. We may even have a memory of that happening to us. Being asked "why?" can send us back to that place and lead us to feel those same emotions and bodily sensations all over again. If we start feeling condemned or judged, we may shut down or become defensive. Neither of which are good for project engagement.

Your goal is to keep all project participants fully engaged and invested in making the project successful. Moments of confusion, condemnation, or defensiveness break that engagement because people start focusing on themselves instead of the group and the project. When you stop asking why, you eliminate a potential sources of these kinds of issues. Think of it like risk mitigation for the relationships on your project!