The Art of Questioning

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious” Albert Einstein

Many years ago one of the most exciting things for me was going with my dad to the airports to watch airplanes take off and land. I think that like most kids, I just had an insatiable curiosity and amazement at things that seem to be pretty obvious, but were not. Of course, as a kid I never asked the question of why or how an airplane flies, rather I was astonished that they were able to fly. But there was someone, one day, who saw the birds and asked “how can we do that?”

(Source: https://i.imgur.com/Yvf8vHb.jpg)

Mystery and curiosity are two of the most important drivers for human knowledge. Mystery is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as “Something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain” and Curiosity as “A strong desire to know or learn something.” What connects both? It is the Art of Questioning.

Innovation and creativity are not stand alone abilities and talents that few people have; they are the result of an insatiable capacity to question and wonder about what is happening around us and to then take action to solve the mysteries. Take a moment and think about anything that you have marveled in your life. A rocket? The first man on the moon? A skyscraper? Maybe something more mundane: a car? Scissors? A knife? A hot coffee in the morning? A cold tea in the summer?

All of those things, every single piece came from an idea. And that idea appeared when somebody tried to solve a mystery, and that mystery led to a question, and the question to an answer.

In my opinion, the Art of Questioning is one of the most important abilities that anybody should develop and foster in their lives. I remember many years ago when I was taking Math 101 in my Electronic Engineering Class. A professor wrote a problem on the blackboard and gave us a few minutes to solve it. He then asked who had completed it, but nobody raised their hand. After a couple of minutes I decided to say that I had a solution. The professor asked me to come in front and solve it in the blackboard and so I did it! Voila! My very own solution to a complex problem and then, bummer… The professor said that the solution was right, but the process was not what he had explained in class and therefore, it was wrong. This happened more than 15 years ago and I still have that episode very fresh in my mind.

Unfortunately, formal education and even the corporate world act as real killers of the Art of Questioning. In formal education it is regrettably taken for granted that professors are omniscient and students should not question them. Albert Einstein said that “it is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education”. In the corporate world the lack of questioning is a serious problem for fear of judgment, retaliation or simply being seen as a non-compliant person. When people don’t question what happens around them, organizations and individuals become stagnated. It is this lack of enthusiasm and curiosity in finding answers and better ways to do things that can truly compromise the sustainability of an organization.

What can we do to promote an organizational climate that fosters questioning?

1. Be open to questioning: be a champion for innovation and creativity from its most basic foundation: questioning. When people ask difficult questions don’t shut them down, but rather promote that kind of behavior that invites the organization to rethink the way things are done. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have an answer. The Art of Questioning is precisely about asking a question without an answer, and then working creatively towards satisfying the insatiable curiosity.
2. Kindle the curiosity: The act of questioning is not enough. Action should be demanded. What happens when you ask a question and there is no answer? If you are brave and courageous enough, you set out to create a new path, a new trail that will take you to… where? Nobody knows, but hopefully in the process you will have to take several risks. Kindle the curiosity in your organization by asking questions if they are not asked before, and keep it alive, even amid the challenges and the uncertainty, by rewarding it. The path to achieve great things forces us to leave the good and comfortable behind. Be cool with that.
3. Reward risk-taking in your organization: This doesn’t mean that you will give a raise to everyone who makes a mistake. It is not that simple. Honest mistakes and failures are the path to future successes. When you find a seeming answer to a mystery, create a plan and act upon it. However, plans are not flawless, less so when you are walking where nobody has walked before. People can make mistakes, and that should be ok. The important thing is to get up again and keep in mind the greater question while you continue to pursue the answers. .

 Questions for you 

1. Is your organization open to people asking tough questions? How is it fostering an environment that incentivizes questioning the way things are done in the search for more effective ways?
2. How are you and your organization kindling the curiosity of your people?
3. Is there a way to measure and reward fearless behaviors for risk-taking? How do you identify honest mistakes and failures? Would you reward them? How?

About the Author: Enrique Rubio is an HR Professional at the Inter-American Development Bank. He is an Electronic Engineer and a Fulbright scholar with an Executive Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University. Enrique researches and writes about leadership and HR and seeks to explore the overlaps of productivity and leadership in the business and non-profit world. Enrique is also a competitive ultrarunner.

Twitter: @erubio_p

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