
When “just asking questions” morphs into toxic denialism
Media provocateurs and conspiracy theorists insist that they’re “just asking questions.” But what would master questioners George Carlin and Carl Sagan think?
Innovation expert and questionologist Warren Berger has studied hundreds of the world’s foremost innovators, entrepreneurs, and creative thinkers to learn how they ask questions, generate original ideas, and solve problems. He is the author or co-author of 12 books, including his three books on questioning: A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas; its follow-up THE BOOK OF BEAUTIFUL QUESTIONS: The Powerful Questions That Will Help You Decide, Create, Connect, and Lead; and BEAUTIFUL QUESTIONS IN THE CLASSROOM: Transforming Classrooms Into Cultures of Curiosity and Inquiry. Warren’s writing has appeared in Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and The New York Times, and he writes the “Questionologist” blog for Psychology Today. He lives in Mount Kisco, New York. Follow him on Twitter at @GlimmerGuy and subscribe to his blog posts
Welcome to the era of the curious leader, where success may be less about having all the answers and more about wondering and questioning.
“You should sue Google!” That half-joking suggestion was from a friend who’d seen a new TV ad for Google—a 1-minute ode to the power of a question.
Author Dorie Clark says finding your breakthrough idea and standing out in a crowded world start with some deep questioning.
Per Atul Gawande’s bestseller BEING MORTAL, the story of how and why “assisted living” came about has a beautiful question at its center.
I was very pleased to be mentioned on this list, along with a dozen or so other worthy 2014 authors. Find out what makes them mind-altering at this Huffington Post article by Scott Goodson.
The 7 top game-changing questions I’ve gleaned from companies like Nike, Trader Joe’s, Panera, and Dropbox, and various business consultants.
The issue of “who gets to ask the questions in class” is one that touches on matters of purpose, power, control, and, arguably, even race and social class. An excerpt from A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION.
Ian Leslie’s fascinating and important new book Curiosity highlights for me the interesting relationship between questioning and curiosity, with the latter tending to inspire the former.
MIT’s Joichi Ito’s thoughts on change, questioning, and childlike wonder
Warren on the web