How Can a Question Be So Powerful?| Reflections on A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger–Part 1.
Introduction
“Always the beautiful answer
Who asks a more beautiful question.”-E.E. Cummins
Questioning can not only change your life, but it can also change the world! Is there anything that you long for to be changed in your own life, in the workplace, or in the world? Start with creating a beautiful question. Warren Berger’s book, A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas, is a must read no matter your path in life. Regardless of your calling in life (educator, leader, entrepreneur, mom, consumer, or follower of Jesus), you need to learn to ask good or rather beautiful questions. If you want to make an impact in your sphere of influence, you need to learn to ask the right questions and encourage others around you to do the same.
Why am I excited about this topic?
Questioning is vital for learning! In school teachers ask you questions, and you take tests that consist of questions. In your adult-life when you want to learn more about a topic, you ask yourself a question, and then seek out information to answer your question. However, not all questions are equal!
My Observations
When doing teacher observations of our Mathematical Modeling and Reasoning Pilot, I observed the same lessons in multiple classrooms across the state of Ohio. However, what I observed varied greatly from school to school. The exact same lesson in some schools was being taught at a 6th grade level and at other schools was taught at a Pre-Calculus level. The difference in rigor was attributed not to the lesson itself, but the questioning strategies of the teacher. Students who are asked low-level questions give low-level answers. Students who are challenged with open-ended, high-level questions give more complex, insightful answers and retain the content longer. Hence the more beautiful question you ask, the more potential there is for a beautiful response.
The number one thing teachers can do to improve student learning is to examine and work on their own questioning techniques. Berger argues that this is also true for the workplace and for your personal life. This is why I recommend A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger to any educator. In fact, since questioning is so important, I recommend this book to anyone in a leadership position and for anyone else who wants to create positive change in the world.
Note: I’m reviewing Berger’s 2014 version of A Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas. He recently published a 10th Anniversary edition that includes new chapters on how questioning can help make you a better leader… a clearer thinker… and a more effective communicator. Fresh stories about the power of questioning to inspire breakthroughs — in your work and your life which can be found on Amazon.
What is my approach?
This blog post is not merely a book review, but rather my response to and reflections on the book. His book is my inspiration to think about questioning, but I often will deviate from his material. I may draw on and interweave other things I know or am thinking about as I write as you would do in a book club. For example, I have a strong background in theology, so I will at times incorporate some of my prior knowledge to make connections—even though the author doesn’t mention anything about religion or philosophy. I encourage you to read Berger’s book and add your own insights to the comment’s section, so I can learn from you as your knowledge may differ from mine. I would also love for you to leave a comment about the questions that drive your life.
Additionally, there is so much here to think about it and reflect upon that I’m going to break up my thoughts into a series of posts. This post is about the power of questioning. The next post will be about the types of questioning followed by a post giving practical suggestions to improve questioning. Then I may dig into the questioning style of Jesus and apply questioning principles to the bigger more purposeful questions in life.
What is a Beautiful Question?
The author defines it as follows:
“A beautiful question is an ambitious yet actionable question that can begin to shift the way we perceive or think about something—and that might serve as a catalyst to change.”
Note: Warren Berger claims that his book is not about grand philosophical or spiritual questions but instead focuses on actionable questions. However, my personal opinion is that philosophical and spiritual questions are the driving force in your life as they influence your beliefs and therefore influence your actions, so they shouldn’t be neglected. True religion will lead to right (although imperfect) practice. So hopefully as your questioning improves in the practical areas, it will lead you to explore the greater more important type of questions—those of eternal significance.
Why is questioning powerful?
Questions create change!
A question can change the world for both good and evil. It makes you rethink everything you know to be true. In the Garden of Eden, the serpent asked Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden.’” causing Eve to doubt God’s character. But Jesus also asked life-changing questions such as “Who is my neighbor?” (Note: The author in his book only focuses on questions that impact the world positively.)
If you ever talk to an educator, one of their favorite parts of teaching is the “aha” moment. It’s when that lightbulb affect goes off in a person’s head so visibly that an outsider can see it. A good question is what produces that effect. It produces clarity in understanding.
Questioning enables people to innovate and solve problems better. The most creative, successful leaders tend to be expert questioners which allow them to adapt better to changing times. Careful logical questioning becomes controlled inquiry when implemented correctly. To create change, you have to not only to be willing to question, but to ask quality questions. The good news is that you can learn to ask better questions.
Questioning can settle disagreements and break down barriers.
Oftentimes people who can’t agree on an answer might be able to agree on a question. People on opposing sides of polarizing issues can be pulled together through questioning. Whereas lecturing can come drive people apart as it may come across as being bullied into submission, questioning pulls people together. Once people can come together and listen to one another, they will be better prepared to understand different viewpoints. In turn, this allows them to possibly come to consensus on certain issues. The “us vs them” mindset disappears which is replaced with the question “How can we solve this together?”
Questions trump answers!
Questions are exciting; answers are boring. As the world changes rapidly and the volume of information increases exponentially, questioning helps us sift through the data and make sense of the world around us in practical ways. Questions open up layers of knowledge, but answers stop people from digging. Questioning is egalitarian; anyone can ask a question, but not all questions are equal. Some are lower-ended, closed questions. Others are complex and require a higher-level of thinking.
Questions have value!
Questions are not neutral. This is one thing I think that the author misses in his book, and that’s that questions have value. Not only can some questions be insignificant, but questions can be wise or evil, honest or subversive, ignorant or foolish or naive. One of the most obvious evil questions in recent history is what the Nazis called the “Jewish Question.” The Nazis had an impactful question that drove change, but their question was how to destroy the Jews, which is clearly evil.
Let’s think about the serpent’s question to Eve again: “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden.’?” It was a powerful, life-changing, creation-changing question, but it was the wrong question for Eve. The question Eve should have asked, “Why would God who created me and loves me prohibit something for me?” The former question provokes Eve to doubt God’s character and turn to the serpent for advice. The latter question turns Eve back to her loving creator by focusing on His character, thereby driving her back to God as the source for her answer.
The G.O.A.T Questioners
The author delves into great questioners of our current age, but he neglects some of the greatest questioners of all time, so I want to spend a brief time highlighting a few.
What Would Jesus Do?
Jesus is one of the ultimate questioners. He continually uses probing questions to teach—questions that force people to think. Some good examples are “Who is your neighbor?”; “Who do people say I am?”; “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”; and “Why do you call me good?”
He also asks clarifying questions. One example comes from Mark 8 after the disciples are confused when he compares to Pharisees to yeast. They take his metaphor literally to be about bread, so he asked them: “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls did you pick up? When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? Do you still not understand?” Mark 8: 19-21
He also answers questions with questions piercing the heart of the issue. When the Pharisees were trying to trap Him, they asked “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar?” Jesus then asked them for the coin and asked, “Whose inscription is on the coin?” Another expert of the law came to Him and asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responded, “What is written in the law, how do you read it?” When they asked him by whose authority is He doing these things, he responded, “John’s baptism—where did it come from?” The list goes on and on.
What more can I say? If Jesus uses questioning, shouldn’t we too? (assuming you are Christian, if not keep reading about Judaism and Greek philosphers.)
What would Sadore Rabi’s Mom do?
One of the reasons that Jesus used questions is because he was Jewish! Questioning is embedded in Judaism. According to Chabad.com “Judaism is the rarest of phenomena: a faith based on asking questions, sometimes deep and difficult ones that seem to shake the very foundations of faith itself.” In Exodus, God commanded Moses to answer children’s questions about Passover, so the Haggadah (the Jewish liturgy surrounding Passover) has the youngest child read four questions. Additionally, the Haggadah classifies four types of children based on their ability to question: wise, rebellious, simple, and one who does not know how to ask. One of the best achievements you can do while learning the Torah is to ask a good question. Sadore Rabi, a Jewish Nobel prize winner in Physics, explained that every day when he came home from school is mom asked him not what he learned, but if he asked a good question. What a great thing to do!
What would Socrates do?
If you aren’t Christian or Jewish, maybe the Greek philosophers can motivate you to hold questioning in high esteem. Socrates was famous for his style of questioning now called the Socratic Method. He was a Greek philosopher from Athens whose conversations were recorded by Plato. According to Britannica, Socrates poses as an ignorant inquirer, but uses a series of questions to reveal the interlocutor gaps in knowledge. This type of questioning helps people stay engaged with their learning and sharpens their critical thinking skills.
Conclusion
Questions are powerful because they cause people to think. They, unlike answers, are not passive; they demand action. A beautiful question will cause you not only to think but to think differently—to view the world and possibly yourself in a whole new way! This is why they have the power to change the world!
In this post, we’ve only scratched the surface of questioning and Warren Berger’s book, A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas. So, get yourself a copy or even better have your book club read it and discuss it with others. In the next post we will dive into the types of questions you can ask followed by a post giving practical suggestions about how to ask better questions. Then I may explore the questioning style of Jesus and follow-it up with personal applications that address the bigger questions in life such as purpose, happiness, etc.
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Comment
What are the questions that drive your life? What are any insights that you got from the book A More Beautiful Question.
