cover image Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life

Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life

Hal Gregersen. Harper Business, $29.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-284476-7

In this helpful book, Gregersen (The Innovator’s DNA), executive director of the MIT Leadership Center, posits that true breakthroughs come through questions instead of the simple, workable answers most self-help gurus lay claim to. “Questions have a curious power to unlock new insights and positive behavior change in every part of our lives,” he counsels, not just in the business setting but in personal lives as well. Setting the traditional model of regimented self-help advice on its ear, Gregersen shows that breakthroughs begin with reframed questions. To start the process, he suggests an exercise: readers should choose a challenge they feel deeply about, convene a small group to brainstorm, then discuss ideas and study the results of their thinking. Intended for both groups and individuals, more advanced methods for groups include creating safe spaces where discourse is encouraged and rewarded, and prompts for group thinking. Changing routines to take new, scenic routes in an attempt to see things in new ways, creating well-crafted stories, and listening for the unexpected are Gregersen’s main seeds of advice. Gregersen’s strategies will serve readers looking for innovative ways of rethinking personal fulfillment. (Nov.)