The Art of Asking the Right Questions | Big Think

Reference: Big Think. (2020, September 18). The art of asking the right questions | Big Think [Video]. YouTube.

Earn Credentials for Upskilling Yourself with Videos from YouTube

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

or

Forgot Password?

At Accredicity, you can gamify your Lifelong Learning, with Cred, in order to earn Stackable Credentials and Undergraduate Certificates from Bite-Size Education.

We Make Your Education Count


Get the Credit You Deserve and Become the Most Attractive Job Candidate by Earning and Posting A+ Badges to Your Linkedin Profile.

Sign Up to Get Started at Accredicity

Unlock the power of asking the right questions with this Big Think video.

The art of asking the right questions, as demonstrated by Warren Berger, is becoming increasingly important in a world where knowledge is abundant and easily accessible. In Silicon Valley and other centers of innovation, great questions are at the root of many breakthroughs and innovations. Questions can help organize our thinking, allowing us to make sense of the information we have, and use it to find the next answer. In schools, however, questioning is often not valued, and has declined as children get older. Asking dumb questions and journaling are tools that can help us think laterally, and break the boundaries of our comfort zone. The power of the absurd question can revolutionize our businesses and our lives.

Learning Outline

1. Questions are becoming more valuable than answers in areas of innovation.
2. Questions enable us to organize our thinking around what we don't know.
3. Curiosity driven research is questions that we try to answer.
4. Questions are at the root of innovation.
5. Questioning declines as we get older due to lack of emphasis in school.
6. Naïve questions can lead to concrete results.
7. Asking "dumb" questions can help us think laterally.
8. Journaling can help us develop ideas from questions.

Instructional Content

Asking the right questions is an important skill to have in the modern world. With access to a wealth of knowledge, it's easy to become overwhelmed and confused by the sheer amount of information available. Asking the right questions can help us make sense of the world around us and lead us to innovative solutions.

In this video, Warren Berger, Hope Jahren, Jonathon Keats and Tim Ferriss discuss the importance of asking questions. According to Berger, questions are often the root of innovation and can help us organize our thinking around what we don't know. Jahren encourages us to look at things we are familiar with in unique ways and Keats suggests starting with naïve questions. Finally, Ferriss encourages us to ask "dumb questions" and use journaling to explore them further.

Asking the right questions is essential for success in a time of dynamic change. By understanding the importance of this skill and working to develop it, we can take advantage of the wealth of knowledge that is available to us and create innovative solutions.

Cognition

Unlock Cognitive Thinking

Cognition is a crucial skill to have in order to succeed in any environment. Analytical Literacy, Creativity and Innovation, and Strategic Thinking are three key elements of successful cognition. Developing these skills requires a comprehensive approach that takes into account the specific details related in each scenario.

The video and transcript provided demonstrate the importance of asking the right questions and how this can lead to innovation and success. Asking the right questions can help us to organize our thoughts and make sense of the information that is available to us. This includes questions that may seem naive or absurd, as they can help to stimulate creative thinking and open up possibilities that may not have been considered before.

In order to develop these skills, learners should be encouraged to ask questions and to explore new ideas. Curiosity should be encouraged and learning should involve open-ended exploration. Teachers should strive to create an environment in which learning is meaningful and engaging, and in which students can ask questions without fear of embarrassment.

In addition, learners should be taught the basics of Analytical Literacy, Creativity and Innovation, and Strategic Thinking. These can include the ability to identify patterns, draw conclusions, and analyze data. They should also be taught the basics of problem-solving and critical thinking, including methods such as brainstorming, mind mapping, and design thinking.

Finally, it is important to provide learners with the opportunity to apply their skills in a practical setting. This can include group projects, simulations, and case studies. This will help learners to develop their skills and gain confidence in their ability to use them in a variety of contexts.

By taking into account the specific scenarios detailed in the video and transcript, as well as the general principles outlined above, educators can provide learners with the tools they need to become competent in the field of Cognition. Doing so will enable learners to develop the skills they need to succeed in the modern world.

Analytical Literacy

Can Analytical Literacy Improve Questions?

Analytical Literacy is an important skill that can help you become more successful in personal growth and professional development. The video “The art of asking the right questions” helps us understand how powerful questions can be in driving innovation and progress. Warren Berger’s research found that many of the innovation breakthroughs in Silicon Valley were driven by a great question. By asking the right questions, we can organize our thinking around what we don’t know and use that knowledge to find answers.

Jonathon Keats’s advice to start any project by asking a naïve question is a great illustration of the power of questions. Sometimes it’s the “dumb” questions that spark a breakthrough and lead us down a path that can be actionable and concrete. Tim Ferriss encourages us to not be afraid to ask dumb questions, as this can be a superpower. By asking questions that challenge the status quo, you can push boundaries and think outside the box.

The research of Malcolm Gladwell and Alex Bloomberg further proves the power of questions. By asking questions that no one else is asking, you can uncover information that could completely revolutionize your business or life.

Analytical Literacy is an invaluable skill that can be developed by asking the right questions. By learning to ask questions thoughtfully and creatively, you can unlock your potential to create new and innovative outcomes.

Creativity and Innovation

What Drives Creativity?

In order to be successful in personal growth and professional development, upskilling is key. Asking the right questions can help you upskill and achieve success. This was demonstrated in the video, ‘The Art of Asking the Right Questions’, which featured experts Warren Berger, Hope Jahren, Jonathon Keats and Tim Ferris discussing the importance of asking questions to drive innovation and breakthroughs.

Berger highlighted that in school, there is low emphasis placed on questioning, and teachers are under pressure to simply ‘teach to the test’. This has seen a steady decline in questioning as students move through the grade levels. Jahren added that curiosity driven questions, like those asked by little kids, can lead to interesting insights and applications that can benefit the marketplace. Ferris highlighted the power of ‘dumb’ questions, noting that they can help to break boundaries and think laterally.

Asking questions can be a powerful tool for personal growth and professional development. In fact, according to Berger, ‘questions are the new answers’. It is important to find ways to encourage questioning in the workplace and school environment to ensure that employees and students are upskilled to the best of their ability. By asking the right questions, individuals can develop a ‘superpower’ and achieve success in their growth and development.

Strategic Thinking

"Strategy: Ask Right Questions?"

Upskilling yourself through strategic thinking can be an invaluable tool in personal growth and professional development. The video “The Art of Asking the Right Questions” by Big Think outlines the importance of questioning as a key tool for innovation and problem solving. Warren Berger examines research that shows how questioning declines as we get older, and how teachers are so stressed to teach to the test that they have difficulty entertaining questions.

On the other hand, Hope Jahren explains how curiosity-driven research begins with a simple question, and how even simple questions can lead to groundbreaking discoveries. She emphasizes how asking questions can take us to more concrete and actionable ideas. Jonathan Keats furthers this idea by suggesting that asking naïve questions can lead to creative solutions and great opportunities.

Tim Ferriss also explains how asking "dumb questions" can be a superpower. He shares how world class performers, investors and entrepreneurs use absurd questions to develop creative solutions that can revolutionize their businesses. His advice is to ask questions and journal them, as this will help to explore potential solutions.

Incorporating strategic thinking and questioning into your upskilling journey can be a powerful tool for personal growth and professional development. By asking questions, taking time to journal and exploring the answers, you can uncover creative solutions and innovative ideas that may lead to tremendous success.

For Learners

Watching this video The Art of Asking the Right Questions is essential for life-long learning. This video provides valuable insight into the power of questions and how they can be used to spark innovation and growth. Watching this video allows you to gain a better understanding of the importance of asking meaningful questions, and how to use them effectively to gain insight into any situation.

Not learning the content of this video will be detrimental to you as a life-long learner. Not being able to ask the right questions will limit your ability to think critically and gain understanding of any given situation. Not learning the content of this video will also limit your ability to innovate and come up with creative solutions, as well as limit your ability to develop and grow professionally.

Using the ‘what’s in it for me’, ‘what’s in it for them’, ‘what’s in it for us’, and ‘what’s in it for the world’ approach to learning the content of this video will benefit you as a learner for personal growth and professional development. Watching this video will help you gain a better understanding of the power of questions and how you can use them to gain insight into any situation. It will also help you to become a better problem solver and critical thinker, allowing you to develop innovative solutions and gain professional growth. Finally, learning the content of this video will help you to become a more effective communicator, which can help you to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.

For Employers

This video provides a unique perspective on the value of questions, and how employers can benefit from it. The power of asking the right questions is an invaluable tool for uncovering innovative solutions, developing creative solutions to problems, and staying ahead of the competition. By learning the concepts in this video, employers can differentiate themselves from their competitors. Additionally, customers and clients will perceive them as more knowledgeable and capable when they know that the employer understands the power of questions.

Moreover, employers will be able to use questioning to engage in conversations with their customers, better understand their needs, and provide them with solutions that are tailored to those needs. This video also demonstrates the power of curiosity-driven research and how it can lead to the development of products and services that have the potential to make a positive impact on people’s lives.

By learning the content in this video, employers will be able to stay ahead of the competition, gain a competitive edge, and provide innovative solutions to their customers. Additionally, they will be able to use questions to guide their decision making, gain deeper insights, and lead their teams more effectively.

In conclusion, employers can benefit from learning the content in this video by gaining a competitive edge, understanding the power of asking the right questions, and developing creative solutions to their customers' needs. This will help them to differentiate themselves from their competitors and build a reputation for being knowledgeable and capable.

Career Path

Completing a course in Cognition based on the competencies of Analytical Literacy, Creativity and Innovation, and Strategic Thinking will help individuals on their career path by giving them a well-rounded approach to problem-solving and job searching. By taking advantage of these key competencies, individuals can develop the confidence to think critically, come up with innovative solutions, and create meaningful strategies for their careers.

Leveling up their career path can be done by watching the video, “The Art of Asking the Right Questions”, which dives deep into the power of questioning and the process of asking the right questions to get to the root of an issue. This video provides insight into how to think critically and look deeper into problems to find solutions. Moreover, the transcript provides a wealth of information on the importance of questioning, the decline of questioning in education, and the value of absurd questions.

By watching this video and reading the transcript, individuals can gain the knowledge and skills to become more employable, promotable, and purposeful. They will be able to develop their analytical literacy, creativity and innovation, and strategic thinking competencies to become more marketable and close the Skills Gap towards meaningful work. Additionally, the video and transcript provide insight into how to think outside the box and approach problems from different angles to find solutions. This will give individuals the confidence to ask the right questions and develop innovative solutions to further their career.

Meaning

"The research. A four-year-old girl is asking as much as 300 questions a day and when kids go into school you see this steady decline that happens as they go through the grade levels to the point where questioning in schools by junior high school is almost at zero." - Warren Berger

This famous quote from Warren Berger in the video "The Art of Asking the Right Questions" emphasizes the importance of questioning. The video argues that questions are now more valuable than answers, and that they are essential in innovation. Berger explains that asking questions helps us to make sense of the vast amounts of information that we have access to.

Questioning is also a skill that is necessary for learners and employers. Learning and innovation often requires us to step out of our comfort zone and ask naive questions. Asking questions can help to open new possibilities and point us in the right direction. Employers value employees who can think critically and ask the right questions. Asking questions can also help us to solve problems, adapt to change and find new solutions.

In conclusion, questioning is an essential skill for both learners and employers. Asking questions can help us to make sense of the world around us and open up new possibilities.

Takeaway

The most important key takeaway I learned from this video is that asking questions, especially seemingly "dumb" ones, is a powerful tool to discovering new insights, uncovering new innovations, and finding solutions to problems. In the age of information overload, asking the right questions is the key to unlocking answers.

The art of asking the right questions | Big Think

Asking questions is like a superpower - it can take you on an adventure of discovery and lead to big breakthroughs. Just like a four-year-old girl, who asks around 300 questions a day, asking questions can lead to amazing things. Unfortunately, in school, most of the emphasis is on finding answers and not asking questions. But, in places like Silicon Valley, they realize that questions are more valuable than answers. Questions let us organize our thinking, help us to use the knowledge around us and make sense of the changes happening in the world. Asking questions can be hard, especially if you're afraid of looking silly or dumb, but it can be so powerful if you just let yourself do it.

Video Quotes

1. Warren Berger: “Questions are becoming more valuable than answers…A great definition I saw for questioning is that questioning enables us to organize our thinking around what we don't know.”

2. Hope Jahren: “My part of that is to look at that first answer. What is that tree? What does it do? Why is it there? And we call that the curiosity driven piece because that answer will be basically turned over to other experts who know how that might play out into something that is important for the marketplace. But there's no substitute for that first step, for that little kid question.”

3. Jonathan Keats: “I often start any project by asking a naïve question. So naïve that most likely you ask these sorts of questions when you were a child, but at a certain age you learn that these were not appropriate. Or even if you ask them to yourself you never really followed through to try to see what would happen if you were to do something that was kind of patently absurd.”

Related Quotes

"The most important thing is to ask the right question, because that will determine the kind of answer you get." - Dr. Stephen Covey

"When you ask the right questions, you increase your chances of finding the right answers." - Dr. Stephen Covey

"The most overlooked skill in life is asking the right questions." - Dr. Joel Levey

Competencies

1. Analytical Literacy
2. Creativity and Innovation
3. Strategic Thinking

Learning Outcomes

1. Remember: Explain the concept of questioning being a valuable tool in times of dynamic change.
2. Understand: Describe the idea that questions are the new answers in Silicon Valley.
3. Apply: Analyze how children ask 300 questions a day and how this can decrease in school.
4. Analyze: Compare and contrast the value of questioning versus answers in the educational system.
5. Evaluate: Critique the idea of absurd questions being valuable for problem solving.
6. Create: Develop a plan to implement naïve questions and journaling as a way to ask questions.

Sample Answers

1. I have learned that questions are becoming more valuable than answers because they help us organize our thinking and discover what to do with the information we have. Questions can also lead to breakthroughs and innovations.
2. I have also learned that in schools, there is an emphasis on answering questions, but not on asking them. This leads to a decline in questioning as we get older.
3. Lastly, I have learned that asking seemingly ‘dumb’ questions can be a superpower as it forces us to think outside of our comfort zone and come up with innovative ideas.

Warren Berger

Warren Berger is an author, speaker, and innovation consultant. He has written two books on the power of questioning, A More Beautiful Question and The Book of Beautiful Questions. He has been featured in Fast Company, The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. Berger is a contributing editor to Fast Company and has been a keynote speaker for TEDx events. He is a founding member of the National Center for Technology Innovation, a partnership between Harvard Business School and the National Science Foundation. Warren Berger

Learning Design

Analytical Literacy, Creativity and Innovation, and Strategic Thinking are important competencies to learn in a Cognition course as they are the fundamental skills needed to think critically and solve complex problems. Analytical Literacy helps students to think analytically and apply theories and concepts to real-world situations. Creativity and Innovation helps students to think outside of the box and create new solutions to existing problems. Lastly, Strategic Thinking helps students to evaluate the long-term impacts of their decisions and plan accordingly.

Assessment

Q: What is the biggest reason why questioning declines as people get older?
A. Lack of time to ask questions
B. Fear of looking stupid
C. Difficulty of coming up with good questions
D. Stress of teaching to the test

Answer: D. Stress of teaching to the test

Questions

Common Hypothetical Questions:
1. What is the value of questions in the modern age?
2. How can questions be used to help us organize our thinking?
3. What is the purpose of curiosity-driven research?
4. How has the decline of questioning in schools affected innovation?

Real Life Examples:
5. How can asking "dumb questions" help us to come up with innovative ideas?
6. What are some practical strategies for incorporating questioning into our lives?
7. How can we encourage our students to ask more questions in the classroom?
8. What is the importance of journaling in conjunction with asking questions?

Keywords

Silicon Valley Innovations, Dynamic Change Solutions, Questioning Survival Skill, "Curiosity Driven Research", "Naïve Questions", "Absurd Questions", "10X Thinking", "100X Thinking", "5-Minute Journal", Subprime Economic Crisis.

Facts

1. In Silicon Valley, questions are becoming valued more than answers due to their potential to lead to innovative breakthroughs.
2. Research has shown that children ask 300 questions per day, but this declines steadily as they get older.
3. Asking questions can help people organize their thoughts and make sense of the large amount of knowledge available.
4. Asking "dumb" questions can help people break out of their comfort zone and lead to new ideas.
5. Journaling is often used to generate creative solutions to questions posed by experts.

Trends

1. Developing a way to measure the impact of questions on innovation by analyzing successful businesses, products, and ideas to determine which questions were asked in their inception.
2. Creating a platform that allows students to ask questions in the classroom and receive feedback from teachers and other students.
3. Creating an education program that focuses on teaching children the value of asking questions and encourages them to think critically and creatively.
4. Developing a mobile app that prompts users to ask questions related to their interests and encourages them to explore and research different topics.
5. Designing a game that rewards players for asking questions and encourages them to think outside the box and creatively explore different topics.

Source

This learning instructional guidance was formulated using the GPT-3 language model created by OpenAI.

Share


Asking questions is becoming more valuable than answers. Great questions enable us to organize our thinking around what we don't know. #Curiosity #Innovation #Education #Questions #Breakthroughs #Insight #Growth #Learning #SocialMedia #LinkedIn #Hashtags #Emoticons @Accredicity

Earn Credentials for Upskilling Yourself with Videos from YouTube

At Accredicity, you can gamify your Lifelong Learning, with Cred, in order to earn Stackable Credentials and Undergraduate Certificates from Bite-Size Education.

A+-Done

Processing...

This may take a few moments. Please wait.

We use cookies to ensure you get the best user experience.
By continuing to use our site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.