Because You Do Not Ask: The Hidden Costs of Not Knowing

Because You Do Not Ask (B.Y.D.N.A.) is grounded in the belief that if good questions are informative, great questions are transformative.  Kelly and Deazle argue that organizations have failed to ask critical questions as part of the talent acquisition, development, advancement, and retention process, causing organizations to both lose and miss out on billions. Despite organizations spending $10 billion annually, a number expected to grow to $15 billion by 2026, and overwhelming amounts of research validating the business case for change, organizations are failing to make progress or sustain momentary gains. 



B.Y.D.N.A. challenges us to ask new questions to understand how committed organizations are to the espoused values of their culture, and how to hold them accountable. To make their point, they challenge readers to reflect on how often they've been asked questions about a specific value, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), as they advanced in their career, and how often they asked the same to candidates as hiring managers. 



With B.Y.D.N.A., Kelly and Deazle offer a simple, cost-effective, and sustainable solution to transform organizations. If an organization has been successful or unsuccessful in a transformation, there will be fingerprints left behind. Fingerprinting has been a simple, cost-effective, and sustainable solution for many applications, but other means can be used to conceal identity, if there is intention to do so. Because you do not ask is the answer to why there often isn't a match between the values of an organization and the leadership and DNA of their culture.