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Gisèle Huff
2 minutes read

Noted Philanthropist Asks the Second Question First

In part two of an interview, philanthropist Gisele Huff discusses the focus areas that bring large-scale change to education and why asking why comes first.

Why? Not what you're doing, not how you're doing it ─ but "why" are you doing it? It is so informative.
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Gisèle Huff learned to ask “why“ instead of “how“ Part Two of a Two-Part Interview

This is the second part of the two-part interview I recently did with Gisèle Huff. In this installment, she talks about the areas of focus that effectively bring about large-scale changes to education. Changes that will help education adapt to the developments of the modern world.

Gisèle also describes personal transformations that influenced key areas of her life. She points to how a businessman who worked with her at the Jaquelin Hume Foundation in San Francisco changed her approach to work by asking the second question. She was always prepared for the first question, which is either a “what” or “how,” but she wasn’t prepared for the second question, which is the “why” question.

Grid“It became my first question to everybody I talk to,” she says. “Because there are so many different circumstances and people talk to me about all kind of things, that when they finish talking, I ask them the second question; and the second question can be best described as the ‘why.’

“Why? Not what you’re doing, not how you’re doing it ─ but why are you doing it? It is so informative. You learn so much from that.

“It’s an easy thing to do, but it is amazingly useful. And every time you get an answer, it goes into your long-term memory and becomes part of your pattern of thinking. So, the next time you see something like that, you know that there is a second answer and you can help people see their way. You collect more and more information as you go along.”

Gisèle’s passion for her work and the future of America come through in this interview. She is an inspiration. We can all undoubtedly benefit from her wisdom and incredible insight.

  1. Inside Philanthropy – What Is This Donors’ Collaborative Doing to Shape K-12 Education in New York?
  2. Forbes – Chinese Philanthropist Awards The Biggest Education Prizes Ever
  3. Rolling Stone – Jeff Bezos, Amazon and Why ‘Charity’ Is the Wrong Solution
  • Gisèle Huff
    : Author
    Executive Director, Jaquelin Hume Foundation

    Gisèle Huff learned to ask ``why`` instead of ``how`` Part Two of a Two-Part Interview This is the second part of the two-part interview I recently did with Gisèle Huff.

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