If Humble Inquiry is the essential discussion of the value of good questioning and listening, A More Beautiful Question provides a guide for turning that approach into creative outcomes and strategies.
In this book full of actionable ideas, Warren Berger challenges us to think about the work we do with others as a form of discovery—like opening doors to unknown rooms—rather than approaching it with preconceived notions or an already decided end. As he pithily puts it, “It’s necessary to stop doing and stop knowing in order to start asking.”
The book is rich with examples of how more beautiful questions unlock solutions to problems or ideas we otherwise gloss over, including:
“What if a car windshield could blink?” –Designer of the windshield wiper (source)
“What if we could paint over our mistakes?” –Inventor of typewriter white-out (source)
“How might we prepare during times of peace to offer help in times of war?” –Originator of the Red Cross national relief societies (source)
The challenges higher ed is facing are severe—in communications, fundraising, admissions, and more. What can a good question do? Berger’s answer is convincing: Improve them all. Imagine, for example, applying to our work these useful observations Berger offers:
“Organizations gravitate toward the questions they ask.” -David Cooperrider (p. 19)
“Open questions—in particular, the kind of Why, What If, and How questions that can’t be answered with simple facts—generally tend to encourage creative thinking more than closed yes-or-no questions.” (p. 18)
Bring this question—“Why am I asking why?”—to strategy decisions. (p. 93)
There is lots to do. What’s your more beautiful question?
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