The other day, a friend mentioned that he was reading a great new book, just out, called A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger, based on his website of the same name. Berger is a careful student of innovation. And he's discovered something interesting. Creative solutions to longstanding problems often come when someone thinks to ask the right questions.
Berger suggests that we benefit most from asking three types of questions:
Why? What if? How?
For example:
Why do we do things this way? What if we tried a different approach? How could we do it?
Why do we assume that this is the best process? What if we looked at the problem in a new way? How could we implement a new perspective here?
Sometimes, the only thing standing between you and the breakthrough in your life or career that you need is the right question, or set of questions.
So let me ask you something: Why do you take for granted the things that you do? What if you asked more questions? How would you go about this in a productive way?
Today.
