00:00Translator: Tijana Mihajlović
Reviewer: Denise RQ
00:08So, I've been thinking about thinking
for well over 20 years,
00:12and I think I have more questions
than I do answers.
00:16Now, I'd like to share
some of those questions with you today.
00:19On my journey,
I've been doing a lot of research
00:22and in 2009, I ran across this report
that just really caught my attention.
00:28In this report - it's from the company
called the Millennium Project -
00:34and this organization consists
00:35of well over 500 scientists, researchers,
academics, and business people
00:40from over 50 different countries.
00:42This report is called
the State of the Future Report,
00:45and they outlined
the 15 global challenges facing humanity.
00:49So the things you would expect to see:
00:51clean water, population growth,
energy were all on the list.
00:56It was number 9 that caught my attention.
01:00Number 9: the capacity to decide.
01:05decision-making made it on a list
of the global challenges facing humanity.
01:12Why is this the case?
01:13Why is decision-making
becoming more challenging,
01:16with all the information, technology,
and tools that we have available to us?
01:20Why is decision making on this list?
01:24Well, about 10 years ago,
we created this model.
01:28but I think it does a good job
01:30in explaining both the problem
as well as the opportunity.
01:34What we're finding is that most training
teaches people what to think,
01:39that is, it gives them the processes,
the procedures, the methodologies,
01:42and the information they need
to perform a task.
01:45This is very important,
because we all need a solid foundation.
01:50However, what to think
is a lot like fast food:
01:53it's convenient, it's fast,
it's prepackaged,
01:56and oftentimes, it's overly processed
01:59in the form of regurgitated
ideas and opinions
02:02that do very little to contribute
to our deeper understanding of the world.
02:07Mass media understands this,
politicians certainly understand this,
02:12and I believe schools know this.
02:14Take for example news.
02:16They repeat the same message over
and over and over until we believe it.
02:20Politicians craft 4 or 5 bullet points
and repeat those over and over.
02:24Schools: they package content,
chunk it, and sequence it,
02:27and they give us a test
to see if we could remember any of it.
02:31This begs the question then:
02:33why are we surprised when we find people
02:36that are not as creative, innovative,
and passionate as they could be?
02:43This is where the opportunity comes in.
We have to shift our thinking.
02:46That is, in addition
to teaching people what to think,
02:49we also need to educate them
on how to think.
02:52So, for example,
if I teach you what to think,
02:55you can take what you've learned
and apply it to a similar situation.
02:58However, if you learn how to think,
03:01you can take what you've learned
and adapt it to multiple situations.
03:06how to think is learning how to learn,
03:08or as we like to say, it's to learn,
unlearn, and relearn quickly.
03:14My mission is to help schools
as well as corporations
03:18find the optimal balance
between what and how,
03:22and I've done this
by focusing really on two areas:
03:24cognitive neuroscience
and computer science.
03:27In cognitive neuroscience,
what I'm looking for is how do we learn,
03:31that is, how do we create
new neural pathways
03:34and looking at the impacts
03:35that bias, communication, education
has on learning and memory.
03:40From a computer science point of view,
looking for new technologies
03:43that not only allow us
to study decision-making
03:46but allow us to create an environment
that we can put people in
03:50so they can learn how to think.
03:54by creating highly advanced
computer-based simulations.
03:57Using these simulations,
03:59we can challenged participants
to make decisions and solve problems
04:03that are similar to the ones
that they face in their own organization.
04:08So not only do they learn how to think
about their own organization,
04:12but we can capture
significant amount of data
04:14so we can assess their thinking over time.
04:17This is what we found.
04:23When people have a lot of training,
that is, a lot what-to-think training,
04:28and they're placed in these simulations,
04:31and they're confronting the problems
that they face in the real world,
04:36most participants resorted to guessing,
04:40that is, when we gave them
more data, tools, checklists, choices,
04:45their decision-making did not improve;
if anything, it got worse.
04:51So, realizing that many of the challenges
that people face today
04:54are too big for just one person,
04:57we shifted our focus
to looking at team performance.
05:00So, here is our line of thinking.
05:02We thought if we can improve
team performance,
05:05how people collaborate,
how they solve problems together,
05:08we can then improve their overall thinking
and hopefully, their decision-making.
05:13Let me give you an example.
05:14Let's say we are all part
of the big organization
05:17and a few of us have been tasked
05:18with growing a certain division
of that organization.
05:22So we get together,
and I get together with you,
05:24and I say, "Hey,
what does growth mean to you?"
05:26And you say, "Well,
it's about profitability and revenue."
05:31I go to someone else,
"What does growth mean to you?"
05:34You might say,
"It is about people and engagement."
05:37And another person may say,
05:39"Well, it's actually
about market share and price."
05:42All of these are valid.
05:44We're excited to be part
of something new, a new initiative,
05:47doing something important
for the organization,
05:49so we get out there and make a promise
05:51we're going to grow this division
by x percent over this period in time.
05:55Then we get back together,
roll up our sleeves
05:57and start putting our plans together,
and that's when it hits us.
06:01The realization that we all have
06:03a very different perspective
of what growth means.
06:07When that happens, conflict happens.
06:10We've all felt this.
06:12I could easily switch
the word growth with community.
06:15We all have different
perspectives on community.
06:17Politics. Wow, lots of perspectives there.
06:20Family, relationships.
06:22Actually, I think that there's lenses
that they call Mars and Venus there.
06:27So realizing that when we feel conflict,
because we have different perspectives,
06:33can be demoralizing.
06:35It can drain our energy
and erode our passion.
06:39So, after about five years,
06:42we honestly felt like boiling the ocean,
06:45trying to find skills
that improve team performance.
06:47We tried everything.
06:49We tried teaching people
conflict resolution, coaching, mentoring,
06:52and we gave them
checklists, and processes, and tools.
06:55Bottom-line: none of these created
06:57the sustainable improvement
that we were looking for.
07:02When we were looking
for that improvement,
07:05we decided to step back
07:07and ask a different question:
what do top performers do?
07:13Finally, we found one skill
that was common to all top performers.
07:20They developed ability
to ask good questions.
07:24I know that sounds simple,
07:25but what they asked
and how they asked was very different.
07:28For example, many of them were able
to suspend their judgment just long enough
07:32to understand someone else's perspective,
07:34and in doing so, they were able
to reduce the conflict,
07:38develop a common language,
and create a shared vision.
07:41As the situation evolved,
so did their thinking.
07:47I know we all ask a lot of questions,
and that's a really good thing;
07:51we want people to be asking
lots and lots of questions.
07:55But what we found, however,
is that most questions are safe,
07:59that is, they surface
what is already seen or understood,
08:04they lead to regurgitated
ideas and opinions.
08:08most questions that people ask
really surface what is already known.
08:15Top performers, however,
ask questions that go deep.
08:18They ask questions that move us
08:19from automatic and reactionary thinking
to deep thinking,
08:23that inspire creativity, fuel passion,
and lead to profound ideas,
08:28and most importantly, they ask questions
that spur people into action.
08:33In other words, they ask questions
that demystify the unknown,
08:38and in doing so,
open up an ocean of possibilities.
08:45Our brain is an amazing
searchable data base,
08:49linking emotions, memories, events,
and experiences together
08:52to form answers to our endless questions.
08:56The success of a good answer, however,
relies on the words we choose.
09:02Our words have amazing power on our brain.
09:06How we use words in framing our questions
09:09is what differentiates
a good question from a bad question.
09:12Let me give you an example.
09:14When we saw people
put into the simulation,
09:16or confronted with these challenges,
09:19they started to make decisions.
09:21The teams that were struggling would ask,
"What should we do?"
09:24and it was almost as though the options
in front of them were just narrowed down.
09:28They became very short-term focused,
09:31whereas the other teams would ask,
"What could we do?"
09:34and it was like the ocean
of possibilities opened up to them.
09:38The same is true for the types
of questions we ask ourselves.
09:41For example, if I ask,
"Why do I always procrastinate?",
09:44my brain will surely tell me
that's because I'm lazy,
09:46because I have too much to do,
I don't know where to get started.
09:50However, if I slightly reframe that
09:52and say, "How am I going
to get this done?",
09:55my brain will surely find a better answer.
09:58I know if I was sitting out
in where you are right now,
10:03I would say, "So what?"
10:04There's got to be a lot more to this
than just framing questions.
10:10I believe that, since we've been taught
what to think for so long,
10:15that the very idea of asking a question
that triggers deep thinking
10:19provokes so many different emotions.
10:22It creates uncertainty,
fear, anxiety, stress.
10:26These are all very real
biological reactions to questions
10:30and from the neuroscience perspective,
10:33too much of any of these
can impair our learning,
10:36our ability to connect, to listen
and be present with one another.
10:42is that the individuals
who would embrace these emotions,
10:48that is, understand that these are
just part of the natural process,
10:54and asking good questions
and allowing questions to do their work,
10:58then questions can really start
to make a difference.
11:01So a good question will expose our bias.
11:05A good question will surface our beliefs
11:08and oftentimes, questions will expose
11:11that we may not know something
as well as we think we do.
11:15These are good things to have happened
11:17because when this happens,
learning can take place.
11:20This is when people can come connected.
11:23This is when they can create relatedness,
understand, and believe in one another.
11:28This is when people can work together
to adapt their thinking.
11:33So now, the good news is that I've seen
kids, parents, coaches, business people,
11:40and even politicians break through
these emotional and mental barriers
11:44and learn to become confident
in asking good questions.
11:49There are a lot of challenges
in this world.
11:55whether they are in our business,
in our cities, in our schools,
11:59in our families, in our relationships.
12:03We all have a very different lens
12:05on what these challenges are
and how to address them.
12:08And this is a really good thing
because I believe
12:11that most of these problems
are too big for one person,
12:14and we really need each other.
12:19What if you learned
how to ask good questions every day?
12:23What if tomorrow,
when you went to meet with somebody,
12:26you seek to understand them,
instead of trying to be understood?
12:30What if before every important meeting
you took time to write down questions
12:35that would move the conversation
from the known to the unknown?
12:40What if executives led by questions,
12:43not by questioning but asking questions
that inspired others
12:46to think about what they could do
not what they should do?
12:50What if churches, synagogues, mosques
asked, "How ought we to live?"
12:55instead of focusing
on what others don't do.
12:59What if parents asked their kids,
"What great question did you ask today?"
13:04instead of asking,
"What did you learn today?"
13:08With questions,
you get what you asked for,
13:11and in era in which computers
are getting better at answering questions,
13:17we need people who are getting better
at asking questions.
