Ask the right questions to find solutions

(camera whirring) - Did you know that the invention of the Polaroid camera was all thanks to a four-year-old girl? If it wasn't for her, cameras as we know them today would not exist. (camera whooshes) (camera clanks) I'll tell you why in a moment, but let's first talk about the role of asking great questions when innovating. (chuckles) (air whooshes) Problem solving starts with asking questions. Other than a few professions such as law, when you're probing to get to the truth, medicine, when you're probing to get to the root cause of the illness, and journalism, when you're probing to obtain the facts, companies often fail to train workers on how to effectively ask questions. The key to deciding what questions you should ask is to look at the world through a beginner lens. To do this, try to go back and imagine life when you were a kid. Remember when you asked everything? (camera whirring) In the 1940s, Polaroid inventor Edwin Land's four-year-old daughter asked a revolutionary yet simple open-ended question. One day, she asked her father, "How come people need to wait to receive the picture they just took?" Her curiosity led to the invention of the Polaroid camera, demonstrating that a question could actually be the answer. Hal Gregersen, executive director of the MIT Leadership Center, spent three decades trying to figure out the common trait amongst great leaders and CEOs, and he discovered that they asked better questions, questions that sparked innovation. To start asking the right questions, come up with a mix of open- and closed-ended questions about a problem. Open-ended questions generate longer, more insightful conversation since they require responses that can't be answered with one word. These questions often start with why, what, or how. For example, how do you think we can improve these team meetings? Or, what could we do to recruit and retain more top talent? On the other hand, close-ended questions give little insight since they can be answered with single words, such as yes or no, but could be easily analyzed for quantitative data. For example, do you think these team meetings are productive? Or do you think our current marketing strategy is working? Another aspect of adopting a beginner lens is to have an open mind and letting go of preconceived notions or assumptions. With humility, you'll more easily be able to be aware of what you don't know and that you will never know everything. No matter how many years you have of experience in your field, always continue expanding your knowledge even if you're well versed in the subject. Finally, learning is not just about reading and absorbing new content. It's also about seeking guidance. How can you find ways to ask people with more experience to help you with a subject you want to learn more about? Using a beginner lens and questioning before you answer will help lead you and your team to stepping outside your company's current boundaries. Now, considering all the tips I've shared in this video, go ahead and take a look at the problem you wrote down in the first movie that you want to solve by taking this course. What are some open-ended questions you can think of? Go ahead and write them down, and take some time to get to the answers. These answers will be helpful in our next video when I'll teach you our first method in the course, the five whys framework.