The Three Types of Questions to Help You Be More Creative and Unleash New Ideas
When I first joined consulting, I had tremendous imposter syndrome. Who was I, a recent graduate, to tell Executives how to change their strategies or improve their technology? So I would sit in meetings, take notes and remain silent throughout, for fear of saying something dumb, or worse, suggesting something and lose reputational value for the firm.
Oh if I could turn back time, I would take a different approach.
A good consultant knows what to say. I've been in several meetings where the client asks tough questions, and I have seen consultants ahem weasel out of the answer through careful wording and language. I am sure I used the same tricks when I was talking to clients.
A great consultant, however, knows what to ask. And that's the key difference between a good consultant and a great one. Great consultants ask the right questions and make sure that the client is thinking about the right things. Heck, it was even a motto at one of the firms I worked at - the better the question, the better the answer, yet I never saw any training or focus on what questions to ask, how to ask them, etc.
So what would my approach be if I could go back to my early days in consulting? Knowing what questions to ask, which is what I want to share with you today.
Reading A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger, the author suggested an interesting framework to ask breakthrough questions. That framework is:
- Why
- What if
- How
Photo by Efe Kurnaz on Unsplash
Asking 'Why' questions
Some men see things as they are, and say why. I dream of things that never were, and say why not. - Robert Kennedy
Louis C.K. has a bit where his daughter starts asking him 'why' questions. It starts innocent enough, but as his daughter keeps asking him why, he goes deeper and deeper into philosophical answers and then gets increasingly frustrated at his level of incompetence in being able to answer the question.
As children, we had an innate curiosity. My takeaway in this first framework level is to embrace your child's mind. Ask why five times. Even if you think you know something, ask anyway.
The story of Netflix started when Reed Hastings was charged late fees. He asked himself "why am I being charged late fees in this day and age?" The story of Airbnb started when the founders wondered "why can't we set up some air mattresses and rent out space to people coming into town?"
Asking 'What if' questions
You can't be overwhelmed by the what-ifs, or you'll miss out on the best part. ― Rebekah Crane
The next stage of the framework is asking 'what if' questions. Asking 'why' questions is the starting point for a pain point or an opportunity. Asking 'what if' questions is the next stage: you brainstorm fresh ideas to address the pain point identified.
Reed Hastings asked himself "what if movie rentals was like a health club with a monthly membership fee?" Warby Parker asked themselves "what if we cut out the middlemen and sold glasses online direct to consumer?"
Asking 'How' questions
It is not how one thinks. Indeed, it is how one executes that.― Ehsan Sehgal
Finally, the last set of questions is really uncovering the execution. How can we make the idea a reality? What are we going to do to address those pain points?
If Netflix charged a monthly membership fee, how would that work? Would we charge late fees? Is it cost-effective to let members keep movies and DVDs as long as they wanted?
If we asked people to rent their homes out to strangers, how would that work? How could we make sure strangers feel safe living in other people's homes? How could we make sure that other people feel safe renting their homes out to strangers?
Let me recap and advise my younger self as a consultant.
- You don't need to know what to say during a meeting, but a good start would be to know what questions to ask. Good consultants know what to say. Great consultants know what to ask.
- Before getting to the good stuff (how we actually do things), first, start with why. Why are things this way? Why don't we do things differently?
- Next, before you land on what to do, brainstorm different things you could do. What if we did it this way? What if we eliminated the fees completely? What if we had to think like a bank instead of a school?
- Finally, after understanding the why, and landing on a what-if idea, figure out the how. How can we eliminate fees without interrupting our revenues? How can we position ourselves more like a bank instead of a traditional school?