A more beautiful question

Who asks a more beautiful question

1. A More Beautiful Question Always the beautiful answer Who asks a more beautiful question Warren Berger

2. A beautiful question is an ambitious yet actionable question that can begin to shift the way we perceive or think about something and that might serve as a catalyst to bring about change.

3. Questions that Google cannot easily anticipate and properly answer for you –questions that require different kind of search . What is the fresh idea that will help my business stand out? These are individualized, challenging, and potentially game-changing questions

4. Key to scientific discovery is the willingness of scientists to embrace ignorance- and to use questions as a means to navigating through it to new discoveries. One good question can give rise to several layers of answers, can inspire.

5. In the current environment, questions are rising in value while answers are declining. The value of explicit information is dropping. The real value is in “what you can do with the knowledge, in pursuit of a query”.

6. Just asking Why without taking any action may be a source of stimulating thought or conversation, but it is not likely to produce change . Q (questioning) + A (Action) = I (Innovation) Q (questioning) - A (Action ) = P (Philosophy)

7. A child asks about 40,000 questions between the age of 2 to 5. As they begin grade school, the questioning by kids really starts to disappear but reading and writing skill goes up.

8. If we’re born to inquire, then why it must be taught ? We can develop the questioning skill now, in our own spaces by focusing, in particular, on how fundamental Why, What If, and How questions to solve problems and create change.

9. The Why, What If, and How Model of Innovative Questioning. Each stage of problem solving process has distinct challenges and issues- requiring different mind set, along with different types of questions. Why stage is about seeing and understanding. What If about imagining and How is about doing.

10. To consider new ideas and possibilities- it helps if we can let go of what we know, just temporarily. You have to be adventurous & humble enough to enter the “know nothing” zone of a constant questioner.

11. Questioning one’s own question might seem like a circular exercise but leads to more insightful and informed questions. The five whys methodology i.e. asking why five times in succession developed by Toyota is a mean of getting to the root of problems.

12. If the word Why has a penetrative power, enabling the questioner to get past assumptions, the word What If have a more expansive effect. The What If stage is the blue-sky moment of questioning, when anything is possible and is critical to innovation.

13. Where do those wild. Speculative ideas come from ? Coming up with original ideas or insights- often involves the ability to combine ideas and influence, that might not ordinarily go together. It’s a mix-and-match process at the root of creativity and innovation.

14. To come up with fresh ideas, we don’t have to invent from scratch; we can draw upon what already exists and use that as raw material. The key may lie in connecting those bits and pieces in a clever, unusual, and useful way, resulting in smart combination

15. To come up with fresh insights and What If possibilities that can lead to breakthroughs, it is important to spend time with challenging questions instead of trying to answer them right away.

16. The How stage of questioning is where rubber meets the road. It’s the point at which things come together and then, more often than not , fall apart, repeatedly . To act on an idea, you need to narrow possibilities and converge.

17. In committing to an idea, it becomes critical to find a way to share it in order to get feedback. Even just by telling other people about a question you’re working on, you’ve begun to form a commitment

18. The rapid test-and-learn approach, i.e. to create something new and innovative- one must find ways to constantly experiment and quickly put new ideas out into the world for public consumption in order to learn what works and what doesn’t.

19. Drawing on other people’s experience and resources is often better than doing it alone. As you look for potential collaborators, aim for people with background, cultural experiences and skill sets that differ from your own: Diversity fuels Creativity

20. Why are we in business(and by the way –what business are we really in)? What if we could become a cause and not just a company? How can we make a better experiment? How might we create a culture of inquiry?

21. Company leaders are increasingly realizing that if they’re only asking the small questions, it’s not going to advance their agenda, their position, or brands. In order to innovate now, they have to ask more expansive question.

22. The most important questions companies should ask regularly is What should we stop doing? Otherwise companies resources are sucked up doing what’s no longer needed and taking those resources away from what should be a top priority.

23. Question-storming sessions provides sense of direction and momentum. Generate at least 50 questions about the problem that’s being stormed. Some of the best question comes as you get to 50.

24. Learning the art of questioning is more about going out into the world and getting better at observing and listening . Contextual inquiry may be the most important questioning skill one can pick up.

25. Why are you evading inquiry ? Questioning is seen as counterproductive. It’s the answer that most people focuses on . The right time to ask fundamental questions never seems to present itself: either it’s too soon or too late . What if we find we have no good answers to the important questions we raise?

26. Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it…It’s only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, that one arrive at an original idea.

27. Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air, and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. The question is : What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?