When Brian O´Kane and I wrote “Start Your Own Business,” we decided to write it as a workbook that asks the questions rather than trying to give the answers. In the case of a start-up, that is very difficult anyway, as everything is context and highly individual.
The Book of Beautiful Questions
Like Warren Berger, the author of “The Book of Beautiful Questions”, I also regard myself as what he calls a questionologist. Asking the questions that cut to the heart of a complex challenge or enable us to see an old problem in a new light. In a time of exponential change, it’s a twenty-first-century survival skill. Combined with humility as the new smart.
Questioning
Questioning is a starting point of innovation. Critical thinking is rooted in questioning. Decision-making demands questioning. Creativity depends on our ability and willingness to grapple with challenging questions that can fire the imagination. Leadership is about asking the ambitious, unexpected questions that no one else is asking. Neurological research shows that merely wondering about an interesting question activates regions of the brain linked to reward processing. Curiosity—the act of wondering—feels good in and of itself, and thus, questions beget more questions.
The five enemies
The five enemies of questioning are fear, knowledge (rookie advantage), bias, hubris (avoid the HIPPO syndrome) and lack of time. Steve Jobs was one of the busiest people on the planet. Yet, he made a conscious effort to regularly ask fundamental “Why?” questions while making the rounds of his company’s various departments. Jobs took on the role of the inquisitive four-year-old wandering the company. It had a powerful effect on him and those around him—forcing everyone to reexamine assumptions.
How do you foster a questioning habit?
- Are you willing to be seen as naïve?
- Are you comfortable raising questions with no immediate answers?
- Are you willing to move away from what you know?
- Are you open to admitting that you might be wrong?
- Are you willing to slow down and consider?
Some concepts from the book
Some lovely phraseology and concepts from the book. Such as jugular questions, pleasant surprise, weak-sense critical thinking, the counterintuitive choice, using a friend or expert as a filter, the fog of indecisiveness, taking one small step into the breach, pursuing your tennis ball, what makes you forget to eat, the favourite flavour of shit sandwich, managing focus and attention, when is your prime time, are you willing to kill the butterfly, are you rearranging the bookshelves, is it time to be a jackhammer—or a hummingbird, active listening, VUCA (and leadership), haircut days, longlines, defining the enemy, systematic abandonment, riding the first, second and third wave (read “The day after tomorrow“, shifting your temporal references, making tomorrow visible and what if Attila the Hun was plopped down in Silicon Valley?
Inquiry-Based Learning
Ultimately, it is all about “Inquiry-Based Learning” (IBL). With curiosity as a state, not a trait. Where Q + A = C (questioning plus action can lead to change) and not Q − A = P (questioning minus action equals philosophy). So you need to warm up your questioning muscles or change muscles (read my book about intrapreneurship), and ultimately, it is all about your BBQ.
What is your one Big Beautiful Question?
