#26 Warren Berger: Improving The Questions You Ask
Host Shane Parrish and guest Warren Berger, a journalist, speaker, and author, discuss the critical role of asking better questions for innovation, problem-solving, and personal growth. They explore how to cultivate a questioning mindset, overcome creative blocks, and learn from failures, emphasizing that questioning is a meta-skill for improving all aspects of life.
Deep Dive Analysis
16 Topic Outline
Introduction to Questioning and Warren Berger's Work
Career Evolution: From Business to Questioning
Current State of Freelance Journalism
Managing Information Overload: React vs. Create Mode
Warren's 'Cave' Routine for Creative Focus
Strategies for Overcoming Creative Blocks
The Challenge of Saying No to Opportunities
Warren's Reading and Note-Taking Habits
Small Habits for Big Impact: Outlining and Walking
Decline of Childhood Creativity and Questioning
Societal Factors Suppressing Curiosity and Questions
The Payoff of Asking Better Questions
Improving Questioning Skills: Curiosity and Perspective
Fostering a Culture of Collaborative Inquiry
Transforming Failure into Future Success
Debunking Common Business and Creativity Advice
6 Key Concepts
React Mode vs. Create Mode
React mode describes the state of mind when constantly consuming external stimulation, such as online media, leading to reactive behavior. Create mode, in contrast, is a state dedicated to output, requiring one to set aside distractions and focus on generating original work.
The 'Cave'
The 'cave' refers to a dedicated physical space or time block where an individual intentionally cuts off internet contact and other distractions. This environment is designed to facilitate uninterrupted creative output by removing the option to consume and react.
Manager's vs. Creator's Schedule
This concept, from Paul Graham, distinguishes between scheduling one's day in hourly segments for meetings and various tasks (manager's schedule) and arranging for large, uninterrupted blocks of time for deep, focused work (creator's schedule). The latter is considered essential for significant creative production.
Ownership of a Question
Taking ownership of a question means actively pursuing its answer, exploring its implications, and taking concrete steps to find solutions, rather than letting the question simply fade away. Innovators are characterized by their willingness to take ownership of compelling questions.
Collaborative Inquiry
Collaborative inquiry is the process where a group of people collectively works on and pursues the same significant questions. This shared pursuit fosters engagement, collective problem-solving, and a sense of common purpose, often seen in successful startups.
Mission Question
A mission question is Warren Berger's proposed alternative to a traditional mission statement, framed as 'How might we...' It represents a company's overarching, forward-looking inquiry into a major future accomplishment. This approach aims to engage all employees in contributing to a shared, evolving challenge.
9 Questions Answered
Questions enable us to tackle the unknown, organize our thinking around what we don't know, and move forward into new areas, shaping problems and challenges that lead to innovation.
This decline is influenced by biological factors, a reward system that favors answers over questions, the perception of questions as inefficient or 'uncool,' and the accumulation of knowledge that makes us feel we don't need to ask.
Leaders should foster a culture where questioning is understood to have value, moving beyond knee-jerk reactions to naive questions and instead using them to generate worthwhile discussions and fresh perspectives.
Parents should encourage questions and help children take ownership of them by coaching them on how to find answers themselves, rather than acting as 'answer machines' or providing all the solutions directly.
Innovators use questions to attack the unknown, frame problems, and continuously refine their approach as they work towards solutions, moving forward into areas where no one has ventured before.
An informed question comes from someone with knowledge, leading to more technical inquiries, while an outsider question comes from a novice, challenging conventional wisdom and often leading to dramatic rethinking.
The most important step is rooting questions in authentic curiosity. While being informed helps, there's also great value in asking naive 'why' questions to challenge assumptions and open new perspectives.
A mission question, phrased as 'How might we...', is a company's shared, overarching inquiry into a significant future accomplishment. It fosters engagement among all employees by making them feel part of answering a big, forward-looking challenge.
After experiencing the initial pain and disappointment, it's crucial to revisit the failure with perspective, extract the 'gems' or good elements that were buried in the mess, and learn lessons that can be applied to a follow-up effort.
40 Actionable Insights
1. Adopt a “Mission Question”
Replace traditional mission statements with a “mission question” starting with “How might we…” and share it with the entire company. This fosters collaborative inquiry, engages all employees in pursuing a shared, aspirational goal, and signals confidence and humility.
2. Engage All in Mission Question
Ensure every employee feels they are contributing to answering the company’s “big question” or mission question. This significantly increases employee engagement and fosters a sense of shared purpose.
3. Leaders: Communicate Mission Questions
Leaders should communicate a company’s aspirations through honest and humble “mission questions.” This signals extreme confidence, avoids bragging, and clearly articulates what the company truly aims to achieve.
4. Avoid Segregating “Creative” Roles
Avoid creating separate “innovation groups” or “creative departments” that implicitly label others as non-creative. This sends a negative message, disengages employees by implying creativity isn’t part of their job, and can lead to finger-pointing.
5. Balance Open and Private Workspaces
Design office cultures and spaces that balance interaction and openness with providing individuals the private space needed for deep thinking and creative work. A hybrid approach respects individual needs and fosters both collaboration and focused output.
6. Limit Constant Information Inflow
Reduce constant stimulation and incoming information to prevent being stuck in “react mode.” This makes it easier to shift into “create mode,” which is essential for creativity.
7. Separate Online and Offline Work
Separate your day into distinct online and offline portions. This prevents the online part of your day from taking over and allows for focused creative work.
8. Create an “Offline Cave”
Create an “offline cave” – a dedicated workspace without internet connection for uninterrupted creative work. This eliminates distractions and forces you into “create mode” by having no choice but to produce something.
9. Schedule Uninterrupted Work Blocks
Schedule large, uninterrupted blocks of time for creative work, free from meetings, phone calls, or other interruptions. This “creator’s schedule” allows for deep focus and flow, often leading to breakthroughs midway through the block.
10. Find Your Creative Peak
Identify your personal creative peak time. This allows you to schedule your creative blocks during periods when you are most naturally productive and focused.
11. Revisit Failures for Success Seeds
Be willing to revisit past failures to extract lessons and identify “seeds for success” for future efforts. Failures often contain valuable insights and opportunities for follow-up efforts, even though it’s difficult to confront them.
12. Acknowledge, Then Examine Failure
Acknowledge and feel the pain of failure, but then be willing to examine it to extract lessons and potential gains. Disappointment is a natural human reaction to unachieved goals, but reflection is crucial for progress.
13. Reflect on Failure After Time
Allow some time to pass after a failure before engaging in deep reflection and evaluation. It’s difficult to gain perspective and extract gems from failure while still in a negative mindset.
14. Extract “Gems” from Failure
When reflecting on failure, actively seek out the “gems” – the good elements or insights that were buried in the mess. This allows you to leverage positive aspects from a failed endeavor and approach them in a fresh, potentially successful way.
15. Take Ownership of Marketing
Take personal ownership of marketing and publicity efforts for your work, starting early with activities like blog posts. Don’t solely rely on publishers or external parties; proactive self-marketing makes a significant difference in success.
16. Start with Best Questions
To get the best outcomes, start with the best possible questions. This enables innovation, problem-solving, progress, gaining perspective, and honing in on variables that truly matter.
17. Consciously Practice Questioning
Become conscious about how you are questioning. This is crucial for improving the skill, as questioning is not formally taught and often done unconsciously.
18. Root Questions in Curiosity
Ensure your questions are rooted in authentic curiosity. Authentic curiosity is the fundamental standard for a “good question,” distinguishing it from questions asked for criticism or confirmation.
19. Take Ownership of Questions
Take ownership of interesting questions by actively pursuing answers and exploring solutions. Innovators don’t just ask questions; they commit to finding out why something is the way it is or how it could be better.
20. Foster Culture of Valued Questions
Foster a culture where the value of all curiosity-rooted questions is understood and appreciated. This prevents negative reactions to seemingly naive questions and encourages fresh perspectives and worthwhile discussions.
21. Reward Questioning Behavior
Reward questioning, not just answering, in educational and professional environments. People tend to do what they are rewarded for, and currently, questioning is often seen as inefficient or a distraction.
22. Research Before Asking Questions
Conduct research and learn about a subject before asking questions. Being informed allows you to ask more precise and “better” questions, even if outsider questions also have value.
23. Ask “Why” as an Outsider
Cultivate an “outsider” or “novice” perspective to ask fundamental “why” questions about established practices. Insiders often don’t question conventional wisdom, so an outsider’s naive question can reveal overlooked assumptions.
24. Collaboratively Explore Questions
When asked a question, explore it collaboratively with the asker by turning the question back to them. This fosters a more engaging conversation and encourages the asker to reflect on their own thoughts.
25. Invite Group to Answer Questions
When asked a question in a group setting, invite the group to contribute to the answer. This generates “interesting group thinking” and fosters collaborative inquiry, moving beyond a single definitive answer.
26. Encourage Children’s Questions
Encourage children’s questions and provide focus or direction, but don’t feel obligated to answer every question yourself. This nurtures curiosity and prevents parents/teachers from feeling like “answer machines.”
27. Coach Children to Own Questions
As a parent or teacher, act as a coach by validating interesting questions and guiding children on how to find answers themselves. This teaches young people that questions are valuable and encourages them to take ownership of their inquiry.
28. Walk Daily for Idea Generation
Walk daily, especially outdoors. Walking helps to organize thoughts, make connections in thinking, and generate new ideas, particularly when done in nature.
29. Engage in Low-Immersion Activities
Engage in “low-immersion” activities that allow for daydreaming and thinking, such as walking in nature or visiting a museum. These activities provide gentle stimulation without overwhelming the mind, creating a “sweet spot” for creative thought.
30. Walk to Regain Focus
When losing focus, get up and walk around for a short break. Walking helps to regain focus and make connections in thinking, but avoid straying too far from the task.
31. Commit to Returning to Work
Commit to returning to your work after a short break, even if it feels difficult or unproductive. It’s easy to give up when work isn’t flowing, but pushing past the initial struggle often leads to breakthroughs.
32. Consistently Outline Your Work
Consistently produce outlines for your work. Outlining helps to organize complex subjects effectively, making a significant difference in clarity and structure.
33. Outline and Scribble on Paper
Perform initial creative work like outlining and scribbling longhand on paper. It feels more creative and allows for visual thinking, easier manipulation of ideas, and structural planning before transitioning to digital writing.
34. Visualize All Ideas Simultaneously
When structuring complex ideas, arrange information visually, such as spreading out outlines over multiple pages to see everything simultaneously. This visual approach aids in structural thinking and helps identify how different ideas connect and should be organized.
35. Organize Research with Paper Files
Collect interesting information from the internet by printing it and organizing it into physical paper files by subject. This creates a tangible archive of research material for later use in writing and thinking.
36. Create “B-Level” Research Folders
When organizing research, create a “B-level” folder for less relevant but potentially useful information. This allows you to declutter your primary research while retaining access to information your brain knows is available if needed later.
37. Stop Reading Uncompelling Content
Stop reading books or articles that are not compelling or good. This avoids wasting time on unengaging content and prioritizes material that genuinely shifts your understanding.
38. Follow Your Career Interests
Follow your interests in your career. This can lead to a natural progression and deeper engagement with subjects you find compelling.
39. Freelancers: Self-Promote Digitally
As a freelance writer, use social media, blogs, and podcasts to promote yourself and your brand. There are more opportunities than ever before to get your name out to readers, potential outlets, and clients.
40. Carefully Evaluate Travel Opportunities
Carefully evaluate travel opportunities, especially for events, by ensuring there will be sufficient activity, attendance, and energy. This avoids regretting time spent on events that don’t live up to their description or provide enough value.
9 Key Quotes
To get the best outcomes, you need to start with the best possible questions.
Shane Parrish
Questioning isn't really taught. It's not something we learn how to do. We just do it. And because we do it without being conscious about how we're doing it, we never really get better at it.
Shane Parrish
I always try to have a cave that I can go to. And, um, I feel like it's, um, you know, it's the only thing that, um, that works for me because once I go into the cave, um, then I'm no longer, uh, looking things up or, or bouncing around from one blog to another. Now I am, I have no choice but to actually create something because otherwise there's nothing to do.
Warren Berger
Museums are the custodians of epiphanies.
George Lois (quoted by Warren Berger)
We will do whatever we are rewarded for doing and we do not get rewarded for questioning.
Warren Berger
Awareness of what you don't know is one of the real measures of intelligence.
Warren Berger
Failure is always going to hurt a little bit whenever you don't do what you set out to do and you don't achieve exactly what you set out to do. You're going to feel disappointment.
Warren Berger
Within that failure, a lot of times there are seeds for a success.
Warren Berger
Pain plus reflection equals progress.
Ray Dalio (quoted by Shane Parrish)
3 Protocols
Warren Berger's Creative Work Routine (The 'Cave')
Warren Berger- Spend the morning dealing with online tasks: internet searches, catching up, emails, communication, and interviews.
- Create a block of four to five hours where you are completely cut off from the internet.
- Work in an office or 'cave' without an internet connection to eliminate distractions.
- Commit to the entire block of time, even if the first hour is difficult, as ideas often start flowing midway through.
- If focus is lost, get up and walk around briefly, but commit to returning to the work.
Recovering from Creative Blocks (Warren Berger)
Warren Berger- Get up and walk around a bit, preferably outdoors in a park or woods.
- Avoid distractions like treadmills with TVs or crowded places.
- Engage in a low-immersion activity that allows for thinking and daydreaming, such as walking in nature or visiting a museum.
- Avoid activities that are too overwhelming or take over your full brain, like action movies.
- Commit to returning to your work after a short break, even if it feels like the ideas are not flowing.
Coaching Children on Questions (Warren Berger)
Warren Berger- Encourage all questions from children.
- If questions lack focus, help provide direction.
- Do not feel obligated to answer every question yourself.
- Instead, encourage children to take ownership of their questions.
- Ask them what steps they would take to find the answer.
- Suggest resources like online searches or talking to people offline.
- Teach them that questions are valuable and worth exploring.