The Art of a Good Question

Jul 20

Where does your mind go when you let it wander?

Human beings are capable of tremendous innovations and social change when we channel our energies towards solving certain challenges. A COVID-19 vaccine was formulated in a matter of months. Seamless digital/physical shopping experiences are made real in trend-setting Amazon Fresh stores. Space X has made reusable rockets a reality and disrupted space travel economics along the way. These are just 3 of the many examples of what’s possible when deep technology intersect with a clear problem statement, inspiration and capital.

We are very effective at solving once we get into the weeds of it, and every solution starts its life as a question. However, asking good questions - the type that move our lives and society forward by prompting an open exchange of information and ideas - isn’t so easy.

Despite some colourful language, Howard Stevenson’s talk called “Building a Life” is worth a listen for its insightful remarks about how we evaluate our lives. Howard, a professor at Harvard Business School, shared two impactful analogies:

After watching the video, I came up with my own set of questions inspired by the points he made. Turning good external ideas into great questions enriches the type of introspection I gain, and it helps me be a better listener too. As a guiding principle, a good question is open-ended, clear, specific and thought-provoking. With questions like the below, I assess them in a personal and professional context to keep myself balanced.

Just like my meander from science to philosophy in this article, to me this all eventually links up. Whatever questions we ask of ourselves determine the values we display in our private and professional lives, and the societies we shape. Lately, the questions I’ve been asking myself have a lot less “if they would” and a lot more “how can I” and “when will I”. In doing so, improving the quality of the question has transformed the quality of the answer.