A MORE BEAUTIFUL QUESTION

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

To get the best answer--in business, in life--you have to ask the best possible question. Innovation expert Warren Berger shows that ability is both an art and a science.

It may be the most underappreciated tool at our disposal, one we learn to use well in infancy--and then abandon as we grow older. Critical to learning, innovation, success, even to happiness--yet often discouraged in our schools and workplaces--it can unlock new business opportunities and reinvent industries, spark creative insights at many levels, and provide a transformative new outlook on life. It is the ability to question--and to do so deeply, imaginatively, and "beautifully."

In this fascinating exploration of the surprising power of questioning, innovation expert Warren Berger reveals that powerhouse businesses like Google, Nike, and Netflix, as well as hot Silicon Valley startups like Pandora and Airbnb, are fueled by the ability to ask fundamental, game-changing questions. But Berger also shares human stories of people using questioning to solve everyday problems--from "How can I adapt my career in a time of constant change?" to "How can I step back from the daily rush and figure out what really makes me happy?"

By showing how to approach questioning with an open, curious mind and a willingness to work through a series of "Why," "What if," and "How" queries, Berger offers an inspiring framework of how we can all arrive at better solutions, fresh possibilities, and greater success in business and life.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction: Why Questioning? (p. 1)
• 1 The Power of Inquiry (p. 11)
• If they can put a man on the moon, why can't they make a decent foot?
• What can a question do?
• What business are we in now-and is there still a job for me?
• Are questions becoming more valuable than answers?
• Is "knowing" obsolete?
• Why does everything begin with Why?
• How do you move from asking to action?
• 2 Why We Stop Questioning (p. 39)
• Why do kids ask so many questions? (And how do we really feel about that?)
• Why does questioning fall off a cliff?
• Can a school be built on questions?
• Who is entitled to ask questions in class?
• If we're born to inquire, then why must it be taught?
• Can we teach ourselves to question?
• 3 The Why, What If, and How of Innovative Questioning (p. 71)
• Why...
• WHY do we have to wait for the picture?
• WHY does stepping back help us move forward?
• WHY did George Carlin see things the rest of us missed?
• WHY should you be stuck without a bed if I've got an extra air mattress?
• WHY must we "question the question"?
• What If...
• WHAT IF we could map the DNA of music?
• WHAT IF your brain is a forest, thick with trees? (And what if the branches touch?)
• WHAT IF you sleep with a question? (Will you wake with an answer?)
• WHAT IF your ideas are wrong and your socks don't match?
• How...
• HOW can we give form to our questions?
• HOW do you build a tower that doesn't collapse (even after you put the marshmallow on top)?
• HOW can you learn to love a broken foot?
• HOW might we create a symphony together?
• 4 Questioning in Business (p. 135)
• Why do smart businesspeople screw up?
• Why are we in business? (And by the way-what business are we really in?)
• What if our company didn't exist?
• What if we could become a cause and not just a company?
• How can we make a better experiment?
• If we brainstorm in questions, will lightning strike?
• Will anyone follow a leader who embraces uncertainty?
• Should mission statements be mission questions?
• How might we create a culture of inquiry?
• 5 Questioning for Life (p. 175)
• Why should we "live the questions"?
• Why are you climbing the mountain?
• Why are you evading inquiry?
• Before we "lean in," what if we stepped back?
• What if we start with what we already have?
• What if you made one small change?
• What if you could not fail?
• How might we pry off the lid and stir the paint?
• How will you find your beautiful question?
• Acknowledgments (p. 217)
• Notes (p. 221)
• Index of Questions (p. 247)
• Index of Questioners (p. 257)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Innovation specialist Berger (Glimmer) takes on some big questions in this absorbing treatise that calls for more curiosity in our corporate development and daily lives. Having studied the business realm, Berger found that many companies establish cultures that discourage inquiry, particularly the all-important question: "Why are we doing this particular thing this way?" Since entrenched practices tend to hold sway, Berger claims, people often try to solve problems by answering the wrong questions. His argument is structured, naturally enough, around "questions that can be acted upon and. can lead to tangible results and change." Chapters examine both the business and personal arenas, from "Why do smart businesspeople screw up?" to "What if you make one small change?" He also explores why companies don't train people to question and how they might go about it if they decided to try. Quirky sidebars on topics ranging from George Carlin to hard-boiled eggs add to the book's inquisitive spirit. This potential game-changer will help readers identify where opportunities lie and how to seize them. Agent: James A. Levine, Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Berger emphasizes the power of inquiry as he challenges us to see things with a fresh eye. He concentrates on game-changing questions, those that can result in actions that lead to real results. The author focuses on innovation and invention stories, explaining that in business, questions challenge authority and disrupt established structures, processes, and systems, forcing people to at least consider something different. Berger offers his framework for problem solving in three stages. The initial why stage involves seeing and understanding, which include noticing what others missed and challenging both our own and others' assumptions. The second, what-if, stage is about imagining that blue-sky moment of questioning when anything is possible; and the third, the how to action stage, is about doing. Asking the right questions will help us discover what matters, what opportunities exist, and how to find them. This thought-provoking book offers important insights to executives, and to those aspiring to leadership, for their business and personal use.--Whaley, Mary Copyright 2014 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

How the art of the inquiry can transform ideas into action. Journalist and advertising guru Berger (Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World, 2009) examines the science of questioning and the ways in which the world's top innovators have used it to their advantage. Establishing a "culture of inquiry" is a prudent move for both producer and consumer, writes the author, who cleverly examines the impact the "Whys, What Ifs, and Hows" have on the development of products like snow shovels, baby carrots and Crackerjack, among many others. Berger explores how, in asking "the question that defined the problem," struggling entrepreneurs have moved from product conception to profitable execution. Begun as a website assisted by volunteers and researchers, Berger's book expands further on questioning as a skilled art form that can be polished to gain its maximum benefits, even though the author finds its usage underutilized in today's electronic multimedia age. Berger makes great use of both historical and contemporary examples of educators, innovators and business moguls who, by taking time to ask pointed questions of themselves and their respective industries, have both broadened their understandings of challenging situations and expanded the range of positive possibilities. Rhetorically (and hypothetically) asking the right questions also enabled entrepreneurs to establish wildly successful businesses like Netflix ("What if the video-rental business were run like a health club?") or game-changing inventions like the microwave oven ("Could the energy from the radio waves be used to actually cook food?"). The author also touches on the reasons why we stop asking pertinent questions as we age and the ways parents can inspire inquisitiveness in children. If asking questions demonstrates an open willingness to know, Berger writes, the answers have the power to dispel ignorance. A practical testament to the significance of the questioning mind.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.