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Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life Hardcover – November 13, 2018
by Hal Gregersen (Author), Ed Catmull (Foreword)
4.5 out of 5 stars
2018 Nautilus Book Awards Silver Winner
What do you think if you could find an solution to the most difficult issue at work, in community or at home--by changing the subject?
If you speak to creative problem solvers, they'll usually reveal that the key for their achievement is to ask the right question.
Consider Debbie Sterling, the social business entrepreneur who invented GoldieBlox. The idea was born out of someone complained that there were too many women working in engineering, and Sterling was pondering: "why are all the great building toys made for boys?" Consider Nobel laureate Richard Thaler, who asked: "would it change economic theory if we stopped pretending people were rational?" Listen to Jeff Bezos whose relentless approach to solving problems has led to Amazon's rapid expansion: "Getting the right question is key to getting the right answer."
The most compelling questions such as these possess the ability to catalyze -- that is, they break down obstacles to creativity and help to channel the search for solutions in new, more rapid avenues. In most cases, when they are asked they create the paradox of being completely unexpected and immediately obvious.
For the guru of leadership and innovation Hal Gregersen his ability to ask the questions has been obvious. But it took a while for the question that followed to strike him: If much of our success depends on questions that are fresh should we not be able to know more about how we find these questions? This led him to an exploration that ended up with over 200 interviews with innovative thinkers. The Answer to Questions provides the knowledge Gregersen has gathered from the conditions that lead to catalyst questions and breakthrough ideas, and how anyone can generate these.
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2018
Business and self-improvement books often leave me with lingering dread that I'll eventually forget their principles or that their suggestions will inevitably fall out of habit. "Questions are the Answer" is different. After turning the book's final pages, I felt an assured expectation that my life would be better simply because its breakthrough perspectives were that powerful to me. In the days since reading, I have felt at least 5% more purposeful and cognitively free as I've considered my life's path, my career, and even my daily tasks.
After doing a "question burst," as suggested in Chapter 3, I arrived at a personally meaningful question: "How would my life change if, instead of seeking to be someone important, I entirely sought after doing something important?"
For me, this book is among the greats. While I don't know the full extent to which it will impact my life's path, I get the feeling it is among the likes of "When Breath Becomes Air" and "Thinking, Fast and Slow."
24 people found this helpful
We need to lean more into questions! This is a great book that will help you ask better questions.
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2020
3️⃣ Takeaways:
I - In a culture that overvalues the answer and the perception of knowledge, questions are still the key that unlocks breakthroughs.
II - There is a framework for coming to better questions. Great questions are not magic.
III - We must unlearn the concept to lead with answers. We were trained to value answers more than questions.
2️⃣ Quotes:
I - "People often hesitate to ask questions because they would rather not gain information that would make them confront a need to change."
II - "Immerse yourself in situations where you feel less right, less comfortable, or less compelled to speak, and your questions will multiply."
1️⃣ Question:
I - What are you doing today, tomorrow, and the next day so that better questions come into your work and world?
New Points Of Views discovered
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2018
I’m into this book with questions already about how I will use it. That soon vanished ....as I continued reading from a new point of view ; or really: from new Points of Views. I read and think....and think ....and then say...... stop thinking you know , and open your mind to the exciting possibilities of not knowing. My training wheels are still on my mind- bike,, but I hope I will learn how to (learn how). I trust Hal and I will stay in this read until I’m able to fly. Thanks so far; and I’m so impressed with your incredible research and mapping. HM
11 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2018
The writing is engaging and the principles and examples are powerful. I found the question exercise in chapter 3 to be particularly useful in helping me to reframe challenges in ways that revealed paths and opportunities I hadn’t thought of before. Planning to share with my team at work. Highly recommend for businesses as well as general personal development.
9 people found this helpful
Make questioning your daily habit and don’t forget to ask what is your core question
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2019
Ever stoped asking questions and wonder how that happened? Ever thought your life is driven by a core question you are trying to find answer to? Ever thought you are a piece of a beautiful mosaic? Embark on the journey Hal Gregerson has outlined in this book for you. Great stories and connection to real people and lives.
4 people found this helpful
Every action, conversation, and decision involves questions
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2021
I have long believed that questions are more important than answers. If you ask flawed question(s) you will arrive at flawed answers. During my very first class at Harvard the professor told all of us that our that primary work over the coming years was to refine our ability to ask good questions. I have read and re-read Questions are the Answer. It is an excellent and practical book that helps the reader explore how to access the power of good questions. I quote Hal and refer to his book Questions are the Answer in my own book Survive & Thrive: Entrepreneurship Frameworks That Work. This book is a must read for anyone, and everyone, who wants to embrace, refine and unlock the power of good questions.
Easy read . . . but still very informative
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2018
Everyone can learn from reading this book esp. if you attend meetings!! Questions are the hot topic in business now!!
4 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2019
good insight. great read. recommend all individuals engaged in thought leadership read this book.
2 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2019
I made about 10 pages of notes, and mostly in the form of questions - thought provoking, challenging, inspiring questions. Now it's time to lean into the questions and see where they may lead..."
One person found this helpful
The power of the right question
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2021
Always like another perspective on the power of asking the right question.
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2019
Great read
One person found this helpful
HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE
If you want better answers, you must ask better questions
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2018
In his predictably brilliant Foreword, Ed Catmull asks: What if "we valued the answers we arrive at mainly because of all the new and better questions they lead us to? Put another way, what if instead of seeing questions ars the keys that unlock answers, we saw answers as stepping stones to the next questions? That strikes me as a different mindset -- and one that could take the creative efforts of groups much further."
With all due respect to the importance of listening skills, it is even more important to develop the skill for asking the right questions. In this context, I am reminded of an incident years ago when one of Einstein's Princeton colleagues gently chided him for asking the same questions on his final examinations every year. "Quite true. Guilty as charged. Each year, the answers are different." More recently, Peter Drucker observed, "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."
What is "the answer" to which title of Hal Gregerson's book refers? It is indicated in the book's subtitle: "Catalytic questions provide A breakthrough approach to solving the most vexing problems at work and in life." That is, questions that "dissolve barriers -- which, in idea generation, usually come in the form of false assumptions -- and channel energy down new, more productive pathways."
Gregersen provides an abundance of information, insights, and counsel that are relevant to almost any organization, whatever its size and nature may be. For example, "One of the themes that runs through the work of every researcher focused on questioning is that not all questions are created equal...For me, the best questions -- the ones this book focuses on -- are [as indicated] catalytic; that is, they dissolve barriers -- which, in idea generation, usually come in the form of false assumptions -- and channel energy down new, more productive pathways." That really is well worth repeating.
Also, Gregersen makes several key points in Chapter 8 when explaining why it is imperative to use better ways to develop better questioners in months and years to come. "Progress in any generation is driven most by the members of that generation who are able to frame and focus on the right questions for their era. The issues that consume our attention today are not ones that captivated our parents and will not be the most riveting ones for our children. The implication is that, as we raise a new generation of questioners, we are also raising a new generation of questions. Some of them will be hard for us to see as better ones, or as important reframings of matters we have already figured out for ourselves."
These are among the passages that caught my eye, also listed to suggest the scope of Gregersen's coverage:
o Obtaining Answers (Pages 12-13, 47-49, and 176-177)
o Breakthrough solutions (13-17)
o Positive opportunities (16-20 and 186-190)
o Better questioning (17-20, 40-45, 207-209, and 233-234)
o Open vs. closed questions (20-22 and 38-39)
o Breaking down assumptions (22-25 and 107-108)
o Cultural inhibitions (36-39)
o Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset (47-49)
o Design thinking (51-52 and 182-186)
o Question Burst sessions (67-74 and 96-97)
o Brainstorming (86-87 and 183-184)
o Creating uncertainty (109-112 and 114-115)
o Epiphany moments (118-119, 125-126, and 186-187)
o Surprises (131-136 and 161-163)
o Channeling the energy to ask the right questions (176-181 and 182-192)
o Building a culture of innovation (193-196)
o Extracurricular questions (209-212)
o Questioning skills in the home (225-229)
o Transformative questions (252-261 and 264-267)
o Keystone questions (268-280)
Frankly, I did not know exactly what to expect when I began to read this book, except that it would provide more questions than answers because that is what Hal Gregersen has done throughout his career thus far. He challenges what James O'Toole has so aptly characterized as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." The world today seems more volatile, more uncertain, more complex, and more ambiguous than at any prior time that I can recall.
Now more than ever before, we need to ask much better questions in order to obtain the much better answers that we need when responding to the challenges that await.
* * *
I highly recommend Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life, published by Harper Business (November 2018). I also highly recommend Catmull's masterpiece, Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration.
5 people found this helpful
Creative people should read this book....today!
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2018
Hal Gregerson has his finger on the pulse of what it means to live a creative life. This book is full of inspiring stories of success by individuals who have embraced the uncomfortable but exhilarating process of deep and constant questioning. As a painter I found Hal’s research highly validating. I have been an artist for more that 35 years and I can say with the conviction of experience that questioning has been at the heart of my process from the beginning. I have always wondered why satisfaction with the outcome of my work has been so elusive. This book has helped me realize that I can reframe that point of view. Perhaps the restless pursuit of beauty requires the ability to continually ask the right questions. What a gift to discover that fact! Thank you Hal for your passionate curiosity and your deep commitment to helping creative people thrive. I plan to recommend this book to every painter I know.
7 people found this helpful
Useful Tips on Scoping Out Problems
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2018
The book is well researched. Gregersen often cites published research to support his major themes. It has many examples of how managers have used questioning in a variety of ways to obtain better results. It provides additional information sources on key topics for those who want to dig deeper. It is also very well written (which makes it a quick read).
Although "Questions" does have some limitations - it does not fully address how the technique can be applied to authoritative environments, for example, I picked up some new tools for my management toolbox from reading it. Those looking to add to their own toolboxes will almost certainly do the same.
3 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2019
"secret" or "special" questioning techniques to rip the truth out of your counterparts. This book is about changing your mindset so instead of focusing on just finding an answer to a question you see it more as stepping stone for the next disruptive question. Through reading this book you will learn what's a disruptive question, the importance of procuring an environment open to questioning, how to conduct a questioning drill to improve your questioning capabilities and to question yourself to become a better innovator.
Charles Munger, investment legend and Warren Buffet's partner, said in a recent WSJ interview that he has a knack for destroying his own best-loved ideas and this has been a key to his success. Reading this book will put you on a path to do just that through better questioning.
2 people found this helpful
On generating and sustaining powerful change
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2018
As I began listening to the Audible book, at first, I was impressed by the way Hal Gregersen laid the groundwork for the rest of the book by demonstrating through evidence, both statistical and anecdotal, the value of his purpose in writing the book. He soon settles into practical action by introducing his breakthrough strategy called the Question Burst, which has been supported by research. He doesn't stop there with generating and cultivating questions that evoke important answers; he follows with describing how great innovators create an environment, both intrapersonal and interpersonal, in which the right questions can arise. Further, he addresses the challenges of sustaining sufficient energy within ourselves and in the surrounding system for pursuing and implementing solutions that may take a long time. He is no novice at comprehending great leadership and the nature of and functions within simple and complex systems that are impacted by internal and external pressures, and with this credibility, he inspires hopefulness in our own efforts at identifying and implementing meaningful change.
Hal Gregersen illustrates and underscores the concepts with stories from the work and lives of great leaders and innovators, most of whom he has personally interviewed. These stories helped me see and begin to implement new approaches to problems in my life, including personal, family, and professional. I found myself so excited by the book that I have recommended it to several people. Some of them, whom I know to be great innovators and problem solvers, have begun listening to it and I look forward to hearing about their experience with it.
2 people found this helpful
Questioning that leads to positive change
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2018
Congratulations (and thank you!) to Hal Gregersen for this work. Hal’s research pulls together the experience of creative thinkers and leaders, and dissects their approaches to open and honest questioning. He shows us how to foster "catalytic" questions, leading to to positive change. Hal speaks not only as an observer, but as an innovator and practitioner. I have already tried Hal’s “Question Burst” approach with my product team, and I am excited about the change in perspective that it immediately brings.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to find inspiration and insight into difficult issues, or to view existing assumptions from a fresh prospective.
4 people found this helpful
You show more intelligence by your questions than your answers
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2018
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I loved this book as the best guide to asking great questions that will increase your influence and the respect others and you will have for yourself.
6 people found this helpful
★★★★★Breakthrough/innovative approach to problem solving on a personal and professional level
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2018
I saw the author Hal Gregersen in person at a book signing presentation. He was brilliant, eloquent, succinct and pushing the boundaries of problem solving and addressing issues in life and business.
After I saw him speak, I bought and read his book and found his process both breakthrough in its effectiveness and refreshing in its uniqueness. Sit back read, learn, and enjoy!
3 people found this helpful
Practice the Art of the Question
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2019
Excellent book! Gregerson builds on lateral leadership and the value of using questions effectively. The “question burst”:in brainstorming is an innovative twist on essential team disciplines, with the art of the question highlighted in Seeing Excellence: Learning from Great Procurement Teams, also available on Amazon. This book illustrates the art of the question, from specific guidance on effective questions to the value of others on teams who ask probing questions. “Questions are the keys that unlock insights,” the book counsels. And the Five Why’s method of root-cause analysis gets turned on its head in a creative twist: using why’s to test the questions a team is asking. This is an excellent book with a different perspective.
The Montaigne of Business Leadership
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2019
Extremely valuable book for anyone in a highly changing leadership environment. The author has spent a lifetime learning how to create an environment where big questions can live and grow. Tremendous opportunity to learn from the best.
Note, it reads more like a memoir by Thoreau or Montaigne. A welcome change - in my opinion- from dry business books.
One person found this helpful
From other countries
Coach Simms, Cochrane, AB
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Read
Reviewed in Canada on June 28, 2019
This read has been an exciting one. I admit to buying this book simply because I was intrigued by the title. As a Business Coach I'm continually working on honing the craft of asking questions. What I took from the book was far deeper than simply improving a skill. The book moves you to think about human interaction differently. It causes you to come to the realization that you should be admitting your 'wrongness' far more often and that growth really only comes when one admits they aren't fully grown yet. Meaning they are open to growth through recognition that they simply can't and will never have all the answers to all the questions that should asked. Anyone can profit from the investment of time reading this book. I have recommended it to over a dozen people within the first month of reading it. Enjoy. Coach Simms