Page 40 - Warwickers Fresh Thinking v2014

QUESTIONS The primary discovery skill is not to search for ideas or solutions ... it is to start asking great provocative, interesting questions .. not necessarily complex ones ... often the obvious simple ones .. others are sometimes too scared to ask. Your outcomes are as a result of the quality of questions you ask. Creative minds ask great questions. Questions are to help you get clarity, gain understanding, gather information, find new perspectives and make better decisions. Learning the skill begins with a shift in mindset - a discovery, inquisitive and curious approach to everything. Discovery is about curiosity - challenging the status quo and exploring new possibilities. At its essence curiosity is about asking questions and pursuing answers. Thinking is driven by questions not by answers. My experience as a manager and business coach has been, that often people are so keen to find the solution or go to task - that they miss the opportunity to explore whether they have the right question and check if it is phrased in the right way - the driving question. I like to ask 'what question is that solution the answer to?' so we can go back and explore the issue with curiosity driven questions. When you are lost it is better to seek the question than the answer first. Good questions need to be valued as much as good answers. 40