Do you like green eggs and ham?

Enjoy the question.

Because creativity comes not from the solutions. Creativity is question formulation.

Resist the answers. Delay the solutions. Enjoy the question.

Enjoy the question.

Give your brain the time to work. Give your brain the time to search.

Get into the shower. Enjoy the question there. Let your brain loose. Eureka!

Enjoy the question.

Do you like it in the rain? On a Train?

Pay attention. Listen to the murmurs. Serendipitous!

Enjoy the question.

What do you get if you multiply six by nine? Where are the aliens? Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Will Elon Musk break Twitter?

Enjoy the question.

Why is the sky blue? What’s a toilet and what is a loo?

When will I be four and a half? Why do jokes make me laugh?

Let me find out. Let us find out.

Enjoy the question.

Enjoy the question.

Awe comes from unanswered questions. Imagination comes from unfinished thoughts.

Enjoy the question.

“It’s not that I am so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer!”

Enjoy the question.

Enjoy enjoying the question.

Enjoy the question.

Inspired by Daily Meditation by Henry Shukman

Wait, what?

“Creativity is problem formulation.”

Murray Gell-Mann.

Let’s think about it. Useful questions come from clear listening, empathy, the alchemy of analysing and intuiting, self control, patience, curiosity … Practice asking questions is a ultimate compound exercise. It trains a bunch of communication “muscle groups.” It is the “burpees” of communication workouts.

With that, I would like to share a tested practice to better questioning. I call it S.T.A.R.T. 

You can practice S.T.A.R.T. in any conversation you might have with your team, your boss, your kids, yourself, real and or imaginary. 

What is it?

S.T.A.R.T. = 

S= Shut up

T= Think

A= Ask

R= REPEAT!

T= Talk

– You shut up and listen. 

– How can I keep my mouth shut longer? Think about what the other person is saying. 

– What should I be thinking about? Start with what questions to ask.

– Then ask the question.

– Repeat, meaning shut up and think of what questions to ask. 

– Ask another question.

– Good job, now you can talk.

Why this works?

First, it’s guaranteed to reduce your speaking time, which is foundational in improving you chances of becoming a better conversationalist. Some other hacks suggest you to “listen more” and “speak less.” That isn’t helpful because the approach is vague and the impact is inaccurate.

Second, S.T.A.R.T. is meant to be contrarian and obnoxious, so you won’t forget it. If S.T.A.R.T. does not work for you, instead of S= shut up, feel free to spice it up: Shut the XXXX up, shut that hole in your ….

Third, it is structured in a way that you can tweak it and make it work for you. Some people write it down on a stickie note. Some find emojis work better . Or, bring a pen and notebook with you, and draw this before every single conversation:

Lastly, pay close attention to how you fumble and when you are successful, and review often. Some people learn faster when they conduct postmortem self-talks. Some find reflecting with another person revelatory. You should have a robust review mechanism. Experiment and discover what works best for you. 

Bottom Line:

Do the work. Practice this as often as you can. If you believe baking more muffins will make you a better muffin baker, then I shouldn’t need to convince you that asking more useful questions will make you a better useful question asking person.

What else do you need before we start?

Tell me how it goes after 5 days.