Why are Deliberate Questions important?
“Questions are the engines of intellect — cerebral machines that convert curiosity into controlled inquiry.”
— David Hackett Fischer
Simple questions flash through our subconscious (or sometimes conscious) mind basically every time we make a decision. We may not even realize when we use them because they are so routine, such as: What should I wear today? What to eat for breakfast? What time do I need to leave for work/school? Such simple questions of convenience, which can be answered right away, are fleeting, and seldom hold any power or significance beyond a short moment in time.
As observed by David Hackett Fischer (a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian), questions can be far more powerful than narrowing down if you want eggs or a bagel each morning. Questions can truly serve as intellectual engines that transform the direction of our lives and businesses.
Very few people have actually learned to speak or think with question marks in a more advanced way that unlocks true questioning powers. Those who have learned to do so, are often recognized as powerful managers, successful leaders, and thought inspiring friends. These ‘master questioners’ have realized that deliberately forming, asking, answering, and reacting to important questions can actually unlock opportunities that others would have missed.
That is why you should care about using deliberate questions (DQ’s as we like to call them) to become smarter, more engaged, and more engaging with the world around you! You can become a master questioner and unlock new opportunities for yourself. You can improve your life by creating habits of using deliberate questions in various aspects of your life.
The purpose of this Deliberate Questions Matter blog, and the community of “Deliberate Questioners” is to help you make that change.
(To find out more about what deliberate questions really are, please check out this post.)
So, lets take a moment to find out how you are doing as of right now. When was the last time you asked a REAL question? Not just a simple fleeting question, but a powerful, deliberate question.
(remember — asking what’s for dinner, or what time your next meeting is scheduled to start doesn’t count. When did you last ask a deliberate question that actually has impact and meaning in your life? You know…one of those questions that makes you stop and think more than usual.)
If you could answer this without hesitation then Congratulations! You are already well on your way to unlocking the powers of DQ’s. Sadly, this task of recollecting a recent deliberate question is difficult for far too many people. Most of us have not created a habit of asking deliberate questions.
It seems that adults stop thinking in terms of questions and pursue only answers. It’s like having answers is more valuable than having questions.
Professionally, that is what most people get paid for in one way or another…isn’t it…? We are expected to have the right answer at the tip of our tongues, and leave the questioning to some authority figure sitting in a position higher than our own.
On a more personal level, we have already established a mental framework for things going on in the world around us. We do not encounter new items or experiences, as much as younger children do, that make us stop and wonder. Basically, we think we are smart enough to stop working our question muscles once we’ve been around the block a few times. In fact, science actually shows that the number of questions a person asks per day peaks at age four and then decreases dramatically.
In addition to this, we are surrounded by technology, people, and advertisements that always bombard us with answers, solutions, and suggestions, whether we are looking for that info or not. Why should we develop the skill of seeking information when it is so easily thrown in front of us with no effort on our own?
The combination of being ‘fed’ so much information, thinking we know enough answers already, and lazily allowing very simple questions to guide our daily actions has the erroneous effect of making us think that putting forth effort to ask questions is unnecessary. We are conditioned to act as though questions are things which just happen automatically. As if questioning is second nature rather than a skill that we should practice and improve.
If you believe that the study of questioning is unnecessary because of the perspective above, then don’t waste your time reading further. This blog isn’t for you. (You can carry on in your simple ways and those who do keep reading will certainly wave as they speed past you on the pathway to success!)
Questions that do matter, deliberate questions (again, we often refer to these simply as DQ’s in this community), do not come to mind unwillingly. They require practice and thinking and effort.
DQ’s generally have no immediate answer. An immediate answer would mean someone else has already ‘solved the puzzle’ or answered the question at hand. But finding new puzzles to solve; that is what has the power to create progress, wealth, and happiness.
That is what makes deliberate questions important. They are the key to unlocking progress. Innovation, personal progress, and social progress primarily appear when deliberate questions are understood and utilized properly.
If you want to learn how to achieve more progress by becoming a deliberate questioner, join the DQM community and start practicing this important skill today.
