In this groundbreaking book, journalist and innovation expert Warren Berger shows that one of the most powerful forces for igniting change in business and in our daily lives is a simple, under-appreciated tool—one that has been available to us since childhood. Questioning—deeply, imaginatively, “beautifully”—can help us identify and solve problems, come up with game-changing ideas, and pursue fresh opportunities. So why are we often reluctant to ask “Why?”
Berger’s surprising findings reveal that even though children start out asking hundreds of questions a day, questioning “falls off a cliff” as kids enter school. In an education and business culture devised to reward rote answers over challenging inquiry, questioning isn’t encouraged—and, in fact, is sometimes barely tolerated.
And yet, as Berger shows, the most creative, successful people tend to be expert questioners. They’ve mastered the art of inquiry, raising questions no one else is asking—and finding powerful answers. The author takes us inside red-hot businesses like Google, Netflix, IDEO, and Airbnb to show how questioning is baked into their organizational DNA. He also shares inspiring stories of artists, teachers, entrepreneurs, basement tinkerers, and social activists who changed their lives and the world around them—by starting with a “beautiful question.”
Berger explores important questions, such as:
– Why aren’t we nurturing kids’ natural ability to question—and what can parents and schools do about that?
– Since questioning is a starting point for innovation, how might companies and business leaders begin to encourage and exploit it?
– And most important, how can each of us re-ignite that questioning spark—and use inquiry as a powerful means to rethink and reinvent our lives?
Hi, Thank you for the blog. I have been looking for many of these books for a while now. They are great. I was wondering if you consider requests for certain books?? I have been looking for a book called 'Showing up' by Tim Robson. Would love to read it and don't know what your ability is to source that as an epub/mobi book. Thanks again
Hi there, I can only source for books that already exist on the internet. I've hit the search for your book, Showing up, but it turns out that this book does not exist on any website. Sorry about that. If you still have any request, please don't hesitate to post here, on my blog! Thanks 😀
Hi Phạm thank you so much for your blog, youre really offering a great service to people from everywhere, I use books to learn here all the time and im from the UK. I was just wondering is there any chance of getting this book reuploaded? And also Frances yates – the art of memory
A few more are:
Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions
by Dan Rothstein
Making Thinking Visible
by Ron Ritchhart
Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers
by Penny Kittle
Mindstorms by Seymour Papert
Reading in the Wild
by Donalyn Miller
The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child
by Donalyn Miller
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
by Greg McKeown
Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success
by Shane Snow