I have been reading Hal Gregersen’s insightful book: Questions are the Answer and I’m starting to understand the importance of asking the right questions.

There may be no stupid questions, but I think there are questions that don’t lead to breakthroughs.

The quality of questions matters.

Those who ask better questions are able to arrive at dramatically better answers.

No better solution is possible without a better question.

By getting better at questioning, you raise your chances of unlocking better answers.

Reading an interview with Tesla and Space X founder Elon Musk, for example, you might now pause over the point where he says:

“A lot of times the question is harder than the answer. And if you can properly phrase the question, then the answer is the easy part.”

I’m like huh?

“If you can properly phrase the question, then the answer is the easy part?????”

Okay.

But here is an ever more interesting approach by disruptive theorist Clay Christensen, he says:

“Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven’t asked the question, the answer has nowhere to go.”

It’s a funny thing: People are sometimes afraid to ask questions out of fear of seeming “stupid.” And yet the smartest people on the planet are often the ones who ask the most questions. 

Uncle Einstein once said:

“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask… for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

As Hal Gregersen says:

“The real questions are ones where it causes someone… to step back and think twice.”

I’m going to start working on the quality of my questions. Thanks Hal.