The Book of Beautiful Questions
Warren Berger  

Summary

How to ask better questions in all aspects of life

Notes

Questioning is the starting point of innovation

Fears holds us back from asking questions

‘People are united by questions. It’s the answers that divide them.

Consistently ask critical questions to sharpen your thinking

For important decisions, use evidence more than emotion

Ask yourself ‘why do you believe what you believe’ and ‘what if the opposite is true?’

‘Would you rather be right or understand the truth?’

Understand the evidence of a claim and how strong it is

Open up options to questions instead of being binary (yes/no)

Don’t rush important decisions

Think about worst and best case scenarios

‘What would I try if I know I could not fail?’

‘If you look back in 5 years, which option would be the better story?’

Don’t follow your passion, follow your curiosity

What makes you forget to eat?

Creativity is yoga for the brain

When creating, don’t think about the outcome. Focus on creating.

Creativity can happen by combining many things already existing in the real world

What is the world missing?

Do you enjoy working on this problem? Can you do something unique?

When you don’t know where to begin, begin anywhere

The most successful creators tend to be those with the most misses

Continually begin again

How might I go electric and begin something new?

Paraphrase and repeat the answer back to the person to continue to convo

In the end, ask ‘and what else?’

Don’t give advice unless asked. Ask better questions

Replace judgment with curiosity

Ask yourself ‘why do you care?’

Why do you choose to lead?

Focus on small # of tasks, not many

Enemies of questioning: fear, knowledge, bias, hubris and time

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