To unlearn it helps to ask new questions. It is also useful to understand that, often, the opposite can also true. In this spirit, I’d like to encourage you to ask new questions using the words “to” and “for.”
For example, in the mid-1990’s it would have been helpful for a number of companies to ask not only the question: “What can the Internet do for us?” but also “What can the Internet do to us.” Today, a similar rephrasing of the question might benefit companies. To wit, “What can social media do for us?” and “What can social media do to us?”
It is a question United Airlines could have benefited from asking before this hilarious video and song by Dave Carroll was posted on Youtube explaining how the airline broke his guitar. The video has now been viewed more than 8.5 million times and has overshadowed the company’s multi-million dollar corporate social media initiatives.
From a broader perspective, I would also invite you to view the words “to” and “for” from an opposite angle. In today’s hectic, high-paced world it is easy to ask “What do I need to do to get ahead,” it is more difficult to ask: “What can I do for someone.” The latter question may, surprisingly and counter-intuitively, result in addressing the first question more effectively.
Two plus two equals four but “to” plus “for” equals a lot more. In fact, I believe it equals success.
