Forget Answers… Why not focus on Questions?
Billionaire investor and the founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, Ray Dalio had once quoted in his book Principles: Life & Work,
“Look for people who have lots of great questions. Smart people are the ones who ask the most thoughtful questions, as opposed to thinking they have all the answers.”
All of us in our childhood were the curious kind who started understanding the world around us purely through our questions. Right from the time we started asking,
- Why does the sun rise in the East and set in the West?
- Who is God?
- Where did Santa Claus come from?
These are all real questions that parents often struggle to answer in early stages. If you are a new parent, and are feeling bad that you are not able to answer your children’s questions, you’re not alone.
There was a study which stated that curious children ask a staggering 73 questions every day, half of which parents struggle to answer. This is actually a learning curve for both parents and children. No, this is not an article about parenting, but something all of us as kids must’ve definitely experienced in our childhood.
For a change, what if our parents instead of trying to answer our questions, asked us “Why do you think that is?” in turn. Would it have helped build our curiosity further, so that one day we ultimately ask “Why not?” which is the fundamental question for exploring our creativity?
Questioning was the base for all of us when we were kids, and much like Rudyard Kipling’s poem,
“I have six honest serving men
They taught me all I knew
I call them What and Where and When
And How and Why and Who”
This 5W1H framework has been ingrained in us since our school days.
But over the years, we somehow lost our ability to question things and along the way, we all lost both our curiosity and creativity.
Some lost it because they were conditioned in a society where people who questioned were either considered as rebels or really dumb who did not understand things the first time they were taught. While others lost it because they were sick and tired of receiving really dumb answers or the cliche “it’s all part of the process”.
We assumed that the one who had the answers was the smartest person, and we killed our curiosity so that it doesn’t kill the cat (wow, Schrodinger would be very proud).
If you don’t believe me, here is an animated version of the TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson on ‘do schools kill creativity’.
Here’s where the problem lies. Take a look back at history. No brilliant revelation, idea, product or service came into the market from people who assumed they had all the answers, but because of the people who fundamentally had the courage to challenge the status quo and ask relevant questions.
Just imagine, what if
- Newton never questioned why an apple falls down from a tree?
- Ford never questioned if there’s a better way of assembling cars in masses?
- Elon Musk never questioned whether one can accelerate adoption of sustainable energy by masses?
- Jack Ma never questioned why we can’t celebrate single’s day?
The examples given might look like these questions are exclusively for people with futuristic thinking, but we are an average Joe who is merely trying to survive on daily bread and butter.
What people fail to realise is that, rather than futuristic thinking, these exemplaries were basically first principle thinkers. They broke down the given problem, which in most cases tends to be the most accepted solution into fundamentals and then proceeded with their Why Not?
Here is a random poem I once wrote on questioning skills.
The formative years of studying has become synonymous to cramming readymade answers. The problem is most people drop here and assume that there is one solution to all. The real learning comes in the latter part, where it is more about finding tailor-made solutions through questioning.
Let’s say you want to find more about who you are as an individual. There is no way on earth you can do this by finding a list of adjectives and trying to attribute those to yourselves. Instead start with natural questions with your closed ones.
- What did I naturally gravitate towards?
- When do you think I am at best and at my worst?
- What is the single most important factor I need to improve upon?
- How can I add value to this relationship?
This line of questioning is very important for you in your introspection sessions. This can help you spin a good story even in the interview classics “tell me about yourself” or “where do you see yourself in ten years” sort of question.
These questions are not just for students, but even big organisations focused towards innovation or improvement fundamentally ask questions. It is like how Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google had once quoted,
“We run the company by questions, not by answers”
Every MBA student is first taught the basics of questioning before spoon feeding him with management theories. If we go by what they are generally taught, it starts with how basic Vision, Mission and Strategy of an organisation are actually an organisation’s articulated responses to the questions
- Vision — Why do we exist?
- Mission — What is that we are trying to achieve?
- Strategy — How do we achieve that?
Or as Simon Sinek famously puts it, “Start with Why”
These answers give birth to the processes that are set in the company. And questions don’t stop here. Like every true Operations Manager understands, techniques like “Why-Why” analysis form integral part of understanding your existing process and paves way for improvement programs in the organization.
Take the example of a consultant, one of the reasons people hire consultants is not because they have all the solutions. Over the years, consultants have mastered the art of asking the right questions to gather enough requirements before they start with the project. Given their vantage point from the outside, they have been able to define the problem efficiently and deliver solutions effectively.
What if we can have the same advantage? How do we go about it? Like we began in the article, don’t look for great answers, start with good questions that can drive people to search for the best answers.
To end, I wanted to leave you with this quote from John C. Maxwell’s Foundation for Successful Leadership.
“Good leaders ask great questions that inspire others to dream more, think more, learn more, do more, and become more.”
P.S: Since I briefly mentioned Simon Sinek in the article, for those of you who are new to Start With Why, here is the quick refresher to it.
So, what are you questioning now?
P.P.S: If you are currently through a quarter life crisis or trying to find a purpose, here is something special for you.
