353. The Art of Asking More Beautiful Questions with Warren Berger

The Greg McKeown Podcast

Greg McKeown

Education, Business, Self-improvement

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Warren Berger is a bestselling author, journalist, and an expert in innovation and creativity. He is best known for his book, "A More Beautiful Question," where he explores the power of asking thoughtful, transformative questions to drive innovation and change. Warren has been featured in several publications including The New York Times, Wired magazine, and Fast Company. As a self-described "questionologist," he proves how asking the right questions can propel individuals and organizations towards meaningful progress. Episode Summary: Greg is joined by Warren Berger, author of "A More Beautiful Question," as they explore the power of questions to unlock innovation, deepen relationships, and enhance critical thinking. Warren shares how asking the right questions can propel personal and professional growth, illustrating through compelling case studies and practical examples. Discover how leaders can foster a culture of inquiry and why framing mission statements as questions can engage and empower teams. Key Takeaways: The art of questioning is fundamental to learning, innovation, and problem-solving, as it drives understanding from different perspectives. Emphasizing the value of beautiful questions can lead to unlocking potential in both personal and professional environments. Leaders should strive to ask more questions and foster a culture of inquiry, which can lead to better communication and engagement. Mission questions can serve as dynamic alternative to mission statements, inviting participation and growth from all stakeholders. Overcoming fear and vulnerability associated with asking questions is crucial; authentic curiosity can result in more effective and open dialogues. Notable Quotes: "Questioning is the way we attack the unknown." — Warren Berger "A lot of questioning is about figuring out what's in your own mind." — Warren Berger "Great questions propel you forward." — Warren Berger "Mission questions offer humility and are an invitation to your people." — Warren Berger Resources: Warren's Book: A More Beautiful Question Website: A More Beautiful Question Follow: Warren on X Affiliate links are used where appropriate. We earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting the show! Join my weekly newsletter. Learn more about my books and courses. Join The Essentialism Academy. Follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back, everybody. I am your host, Greg McEwen, and this is the Greg McEwan podcast,
0:11.1	where we break through those barriers in our own mind, in our own lives, in our relationships,
0:19.0	in leadership. And today I have Warren Berger, who is many things, but among them, the author of a more
0:29.0	beautiful question.
0:30.8	He is a self-described questionologist.
0:34.4	Now, he's written other books as well, but this is the one that we're here to talk about,
0:38.0	because he has now written an updated version, which is more than a trivial enterprise,
0:45.5	especially the way that he's done it, because he's added whole sections and developed
0:49.8	more chapters, these principles, these practices can relate to almost every area of life and some in a particularly relevant way.
0:59.0	I challenge you in your own life as you're listening or watching this conversation to not consider whether better questions, more beautiful questions, might not produce a more beautiful
1:12.5	outcome in your life. And with that, Warren, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. For those that
1:18.3	aren't familiar with the book, a more beautiful question. Who said that originally? How did you
1:24.4	come to be enamored with that idea, that language and the practice behind it?
1:30.7	When I was originally thinking about this book 10 years ago, I had just finished working on a book
1:36.7	with a famous designer named Bruce Mao. Bruce Mao, M-A-U, is known for being this
1:42.9	incredible thinker and problem solver. And he introduced me to the
1:48.6	concept of stupid questions. His thing was the people who are willing to ask the stupid questions,
1:57.7	like, why are we doing things the way we're doing them? And what if we tried something
2:02.0	radically different? We said they will often get laughed at at the time. They are first asking
2:07.6	those questions, but those are the people that often lead change and innovation. And he pointed
2:13.7	out that all of the best designers in the world were the people asking those kinds of
2:19.5	stupid questions. So I was originally going to go with a book about stupid questions. And then someone
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