Questions are the Answer

The world continues to be unsettled as we monitor infection rates and wonder about new restrictions on education, travel, and business. Being unsettled, which is completely normal in the midst of abnormal times, is a major type of disruption. If we practice Guardrail #5: Step Back to Grow, we will take the time to examine these unsettling feelings in order to gain insight.

An effective way to Step Back to Grow is to ask questions about your current situation. “Do I need to be doing this thing this way anymore? Is this old behavior really serving me? Does my home environment fill me up emotionally and spiritually?”

But many of us don't really remember how to ask questions.

On my Disrupt Yourself podcast I interviewed Hal Gregersen, the executive director of the MIT Leadership Center and a Thinkers50 globally ranked management thinker. His most recent book, Questions are the Answer, examines the fact that while people are pre-programmed to look for answers, the real catalysts for innovative change are questions.

“Since the moment we were born, we were born to ask, we were born to inquire, we were born to be curious,” Hal said. “Unless children grow up in horrible or abusive situations, we all were questioners when we were young. And three or four year old’s, we all know, ask tons of questions because they're intensely curious about the world.”

We all were questioners when we were young. - Hal Gregersen

Over the years through formal schooling, we begin to ask fewer questions and are rewarded for providing the correct answers to questions posed to us. The lesson becomes clear—getting the right answer is more important than engaging through an inquisitive mind. “And then we go into our first job where, often, it's a structured environment…[and it] is no different than first grade, where you ask a tough question, ‘Why are we doing this around here?’ And you're likely to get a lot of, ‘What are you even caring about that for, just get to work.’”

How do we draw on the former version of ourselves, that brave young soul that boldly asked question after question? Are there good ways to ask a question?

Catalytic Questions and Question Burst

“Catalytic questions challenge fundamental assumptions, but at the same time, provide energy and action orientation, so that we actually do something about the question.” These are created within the very specific context they are trying to address and often seem crazy at the time, but end up feeling inevitable. A good example would be a university asking in 2000, “How can we make online education available to tens of thousands of people that don’t normally have access to higher education?” Seems obvious today but 20 years ago this was a radical question to ask.

The “question burst” is meant to help people and/or organizations get unstuck. It is like a brainstorming session, but one where you do nothing but ask questions for 10, 15, or 20 minutes.

The rules for the “question burst” process are straight forward.

1. Pick an area that you care deeply about. Invite people to help you consider the challenge from fresh angles—preferably people that have no direct experience with the challenge.
2. Generate as many questions as possible. Like the game show Jeopardy!, everything should be in the form of question. When asking a question, do not explain your reason for asking. And, don’t answer any of the questions as they are posed.
3. At the end of the designated time, look at the questions and pick the “catalytic” questions from the list—those that hold the most promise to help create change. Commit to pursuing those questions.

Hal has seen this approach produce amazing results, “Having done the process for the last 20 years with thousands of leaders, “question bursts” works in moving people from 'stuck' to 'progress and movement.’”

How could asking new or better questions help you navigate the road ahead? How might asking questions spur growth in your personal and/or professional life? What areas in your life might you be able to bring a fresh perspective to through new questions? Who are some friends or colleagues you could ask to participate in a “question burst” process? How is having people outside of your circumstance helpful in asking questions?

The year 2020 has presented its share of challenges and growth opportunities. Maybe, just maybe, the best path forward is for us to lean in and ask more questions.

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Whitney Johnson is the founder and CEO of WLJ Advisors, a boutique consultancy that helps leaders and the people they work with become fluent in the language of growth. Whitney is one of the leading management thinkers in the world, according to Thinkers50, the author of the bestselling Build an A Team and critically-acclaimed Disrupt Yourself, both published by Harvard Business Press. She is a world-class keynote speaker, frequent lecturer for Harvard Business School's Corporate Learning and an advisor to CEOs. She is a member of the original cohort of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith's 100 Coaches, and was selected as MG100 / Thinkers50 #1 Coach on Talent. Whitney has 1.8 million followers on LinkedIn, where she was selected as a Top Voice in 2018, and her course on Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship has been viewed more than 1 million times.?