Ask Ten Questions
Moving beyond the first answer
We often stop at the first answer. We find a solution, accept an explanation, or settle on an opinion, and our inquiry ends.
But real insights often remain buried in the questions we don't ask.
Answers can close doors; questions open them.
What if, when faced with a situation, an idea, or our own reaction, we deliberately aimed to ask at least ten questions before answering them?
This isn't about finding ten perfect answers. It's about the process of asking, which helps us with:
- Digging Deeper: Going beyond the surface level.
- Challenging Assumptions: Questioning what we think we already know.
- Exploring Possibilities: Opening up new perspectives.
- Fostering Curiosity: Actively engaging our innate drive to understand.
- Cultivating Patience: Resisting the urge to jump to the first, easy conclusion.
Imagine asking questions like:
- What am I assuming here?
- What if the opposite were true?
- What am I not seeing?
- How else could this be interpreted?
- What is the core intention here?
- What small experiment could test this?
Asking multiple questions pushes us beyond conditioned thinking and into a space of active investigation. It helps empty our mind of certainty and opens it to learning.
What's one thing you could ask more questions about this week before looking for answers?
Curiously,
/rajesh
I am opening a new business, and I want to manage it in a way that ASSUMES we will have a large percentage of repeat customers (customers that come back at least once a month, as opposed to one per year). But this assumption will radically change how we operate (different pricing to get people to come back, higher expenses to ensure the experience for each visit compels them to return, etc...), and I have limited, and potentially biased data that makes me believe this assumption should be what we build the business on. So I went through the sample questions you provided, and they helped me figure out how to test this assumption. This might have just been a coincidence, but the ORDER of your sample questions was useful in prying my mind open to the possibility that the assumption is legit. Then, when I arrived at the final question, which is "What small experiment could test this?" I was already primed to WANT to run a legit experiment (as opposed to running a half-assed one with the intentions of validating my assumption that I admit that I WANT to be true. To give you the conclusion, my assumption is that a large percentage of our customers will come back at least once per month, and therefore we should focus on encouraging that kind of repeat business. (low prices, maybe a changing menu, etc...) So the test I'd like to do is have one entrance ticket cost about $5. But before the customer leaves, I'd like to offer them to purchase a pass for only $2.50 which gives them THREE entrance tickets to use whenever they want. This is a savings of over 80%, and would destroy my business if I kept it going, but this is a small test. If someone comes into my business, and says "no" to such a ridiculous deal, that proves that they have no intentions of coming back. If I struggle to sell these, then I should question my assumptions that repeat customers will make up a chunk of our business. But if it's easy to sell them, I will stop with the 80%+ discount and go for say, 50%, and see if the interest remains. I'm excited for this test, and thank you Raj for this article because this assumption really can make or break my business. This article could have honestly changed the trajectory of my business.
Thank you, Artie, for the detailed comment. I am thrilled to read that the "Ask Ten Questions" strategy has helped you so much in your business' early days.
Your use of the idea is exemplary!
If there's one skill I would not hesitate recommending to anyone, it's this very skill of asking powerful, diverse, and impactful questions before jumping to the first (often biased) answer.
So I am glad to see this bearing fruit for you already.
All the best for your exciting business.