The Book of Beautiful Questions: The Powerful Questions That Will Help You Decide, Create, Connect, and Lead

by Warren Berger

USE THESE FIVE QUESTIONS TO OPEN UP POSSIBILITIES How can I “open up” the question to be decided? We have a tendency to make binary decisions (yes/no, either/or), which limits options. Trying using open-ended questions (What are the best ways …? How might I …?) to frame your decision. What is the great, the good, and the ugly? When making decisions, try to choose from at least three options. Do this by projecting three different potential outcomes or scenarios—one very positive, one moderate, and one negative. If none of the current options were available, what would I do? Imagine that the existing options you’re deciding between suddenly have vanished; this forces you to try to come up with additional possibilities. Upon returning to reality, you can weigh your newly-imagined options against the existing ones. What is the counterintuitive choice? Include one option that goes completely against the others; you probably won’t choose it, but it stimulates unconventional thinking. What would an outsider do? You can get an actual outsider to help answer this—or just try to look at the situation the way an outsider might.