09/11/2026
I was listening to a podcast the other day about business analysis and data collection, and one point really stood out to me. An analyst’s job is to keep asking why. The idea behind asking “why” five times is to move beyond the obvious problem and uncover the root cause. I even hit the repeat button twice, because as an Equine Osteopath, this is exactly how I approach my work.
When I evaluate a horse’s mobility and identify a dysfunction, I don’t stop at what I can immediately see. I ask why it is happening, and then I start collecting data. What is the skeletal system telling me? What is the nervous system communicating? What are the muscles, viscera, lymphatics and circulatory system revealing? Each system provides another piece of information and helps build a more complete picture.
If we focus only on the symptom, I may miss the reason the dysfunction is there in the first place. Ignoring one system means leaving out a why, and without finding the root cause, we can end up treating symptoms rather than creating meaningful, lasting change.