A Behavior Shared by all the Successful People I Know

Spoiler: it isn't about having the answers

From the age of three on, most humans are rewarded when we have answers. “What’s 2 plus 3?”, “Where’s the state capitol of Minnesota?”, "What is shear modulus?”. 

Worse yet, most kids quickly learn that responses like “I don’t know” are greeted with frowns and sometimes derision.

And so the die gets cast: for the rest of our lives (or at least until we don’t give a sh*t anymore) we are conditioned to want to have all the answers.

Not so, for successful people…..

In the early 90’s I was lucky enough to have Richard Saul Wurman as an advisor - at that time he was doing this niche thing called the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference, or TED for short. And yes, as we all learned, he really did have ideas worth spreading. #BoomSauce. The rest is history. Here are a few germane Richard quotes on this topic:

“In school, we're rewarded for having the answer, not for asking a good question.”

“The most essential prerequisite to understanding is to be able to admit when you don't understand something”

“The fundamental failure of most graphic, product, architectural and even urban design is its insistence on serving the God of Looking-Good rather than the God of Being-Good.”

Richard, along with most other people I admire, is masterful at asking questions. Thoughtful questions help us understand a situation, think, understand the options, understand people,......and thereby make informed thoughtful decisions.

So starting right now, focus on your discovery and questioning skills, not on your knowledge.

If you need a jump start, get the book A More Beautiful Question:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GC53AG8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Capiche?