Ask Questions to Learn Faster and Deeper

Asking questions is a crucial tool for finding new insights, especially when you're learning something new. It could be from reading, listening, or watching something, or from everyday experiences. Questions help us uncover the gaps in your understanding. By asking the right questions, you can delve deeper into the issue or topic that you are trying to understand. This is the only way that you can learn more effectively.

Ask Questions to Engage Deeply with the Materials

Avoid mindless consumption of information. Instead, pause frequently and ask questions about the information you are receiving. What problem does it solve? How does it solve it? Can you find new related examples? How reliable is the information in front of you? Are you asking the essential questions? By asking the right questions and finding their answers, you can deeply engage with the material you are learning from. The moment you ask questions, you elevate yourself from being a passive consumer to an active learner.

Developing the Skill of Questioning

If you don't know what questions to ask or what the core questions of a topic are, you likely don't understand it well enough yet. Questioning is a skill that requires conscious effort to develop. When learning something new, the first step is figuring out what the real questions are to ask. Initially, you may struggle to find the right questions, and that is fine. You may have to begin with some superficial questions, and from there, iterate to get to the real questions. Ask those questions and find their answers.

Embrace Basic Questions

There are no stupid questions. What you might consider a stupid question is actually just a basic question. There's no shame in asking these questions. If there's something you don't know, ask and find the answer. Don't be afraid to ask, no matter how silly the question may seem. All questions are valid, and it's perfectly fine not to know the answer. By asking these types of questions and finding their answers, you'll learn far more than if you pretend to know more than you do. This is a constant process in life that will lead to continued learning and growth.

Learn to Ask Real Questions

Real questions are focused and get to the heart of the matter, unlike superficial questions that stay at a broad level. Asking a superficial question such as "How were our company's last quarter results?" may give a broad answer, but it won't get into something concrete and actionable. Instead, you could ask more focused questions like:

• Did our last quarter's revenue grow or decline from the previous year?
• Which product or service had the biggest influence on the growth or decline?
• What is our biggest issue if revenue declined?

Answering these questions will probably provide insights that you or others in your company can focus on.

Ask Questions to Stay Focused and Engaged

As soon as you ask a question, networks of neurons in your brain are activated. Because your mind dislikes unanswered questions, it becomes uncomfortable and begins searching for an answer. Generating a set of questions related to the material you are consuming can help you stay more focused. Before diving in, take some time to preview the material and come up with a list of questions. Preparing questions will help you stay engaged while reading and you will learn more..

The Importance of Having a Trusted System for Recording Questions and Answers

It's important to have a trusted system to record questions and their answers. Personally, I use Obsidian as a note-taking system to keep track of my notes and related questions. This app allows me to access my notes and add new questions or answers anytime, anywhere - MacBook, iPad, and iPhone. It helps me expand on a question, add new ones, review them, or test myself.

Key Takeaways

Here’s a list of important points from this post:

• Pause frequently and ask questions about the information you are receiving
• Ask the right questions to engage deeply with the material you are learning from
• Figure out what the right questions are or what the real questions are to ask when learning something new
• Embrace basic questions and don't be afraid to ask them
• Learn to ask real questions that are focused and get to the core
• Generate a set of questions related to the material you are consuming to help you stay more focused
• Have a trusted system to record questions and their answers

Reference:

While writing the post, I have adapted several ideas from the following book:

Burger, Edward B., and Michael Starbird. "The 5 elements of effective thinking." In?The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking. Princeton University Press, 2012.