A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas

We do know that the ability to question, whether verbally or through other means, is one of the things that separates us from lower primates. Paul Harris, an education professor8 at Harvard University who has studied questioning in children, observes, “Unlike other primates, we humans are designed so that the young look to the old for cultural info

What’s required is a willingness to go out into the world with a curious and open mind, to observe closely, and—perhaps most important, according to a number of the questioners I’ve interviewed—to listen.

seeing it for the first time. If you’ve ever experienced this, it feels a bit like déjà vu in reverse. With déjà vu, you go somewhere you’ve never before been yet it seems oddly familiar; conversely, when you look at something familiar and suddenly see it fresh, this is a case of vuja de, to use a quirky term13 favored by Stanford University profes

What we learn from those kids is that there’s no substitute for quickly trying things out to see what works.

So then, one of the primary drivers of questioning is an awareness of what we don’t know—which is a form of higher awareness that separates not only man from monkey but also the smart and curious person from the dullard who doesn’t know or care.

What kind of preparation does the modern workplace and society demand of its citizens—i.e., what kind of skills, knowledge, and capabilities are needed to be productive and thrive? The answer to that, again, is not simple, but among those who’ve studied the needs of the evolving workplace from an educational standpoint—and two people at the forefro

Stanford University’s Bob Sutton says that67 when analyzing a misstep, in addition to asking what went wrong, you should also ask, In this failure, what went right? (Conversely, when you try out something and it seems to have succeeded, look for what went wrong or could have been better, Sutton says. The best learning comes from looking at successe

The five whys methodology originated27 in Japan and is credited to Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota Industries. For decades, the company used the practice of asking why five times in succession as a means of getting to the root of a particular manufacturing problem.

That’s only part of what’s required to ask powerful Why questions. To do so, we must: • Step back. • Notice what others miss. • Challenge assumptions (including our own). • Gain a deeper understanding of the situation or problem at hand, through contextual inquiry. • Question the questions we’re asking. • Take ownership of a particular question.

The five whys28 can be used outside of business, as well. IDEO has used it to address a number of behavioral issues. The firm offers this example of how it can be applied to a lifestyle issue. Why do you exercise? Because it’s healthy. Why is it healthy? Because it raises my heart rate. Why is that important? So that I burn more calories. Why do yo