Why Questioning Is Critical to Learning and Problem Solving

How about you … do you go out of your way to avoid making mistakes? Does that mean you also avoid asking questions? Are you looking for ways to improve your learning and problem-solving? Then ask more and better questions because questioning is critical.

Only the one who does not question is safe from making a mistake.

Albert Einstein

Here is an interesting fact. The amount of new technical information is doubling every two years. EVERY TWO YEARS. The top 10 jobs that were in demand in 2013 didn’t exist in 2004. We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that don’t yet exist. All this in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet. Scary, isn’t it?

For students starting a 4 year technical or college degree, one half of what they will learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study. We are clearly living in exponential times, aren’t we? (See our article on continuous learning for more on this topic)

In this environment of an ever-increasing need for continuous learning, it is a good time to think about the importance of asking questions. This was a big theme for Einstein, who told us, “The important thing is not to stop questioning,” while also urging us to question everything and “Never lose a holy curiosity.”

Einstein well understood that questioning is critical to learning and solving problems. If he were alive today, Einstein would see a world in which questioning has become more important than ever before. But he might also be left wondering why, for the most part, we still don’t encourage questioning or teach it and how to learn to learn to our children.

Let’s start with the growing importance of questioning. Perhaps the best evidence of this can be seen in today’s high-tech world. The leaders of Facebook, Amazon, Google, and a number of other leading companies are known as consummate questioners who constantly ask, 

Why should we settle for this? and What if we try something different? A number of the top executives in Silicon Valley were educated in Montessori schools, where their curiosity was given room to roam at a young age.

This has served them well in today’s dynamic tech market—because their well-honed questioning skills help them analyze and solve problems, adapt to change, identify fresh opportunities, and lead companies in new directions. Indeed, asking the right question is often the starting point of innovation.

Look closely at new innovations over the last decade, everything from the making of the cell phone to the birth of the internet, and you will notice that each began with a person pursuing an insightful question no one else was asking at the time. The questions led to answers that, eventually, have led to billion-dollar paydays. It has been said that, in Silicon Valley today, “questions are the new answers.”

So let’s transition to the subject of Socratic questioning. Wikipedia describes Socratic questioning  as disciplined questioning that can be used to pursue thought in many directions and for many purposes, including: , to distinguish what we know from what we don’t know,  to explore complex ideas, , to open up issues and problems, to uncover assumptions, to get to the truth of things, and  to analyze concepts.

They point out the key to distinguishing Socratic questioning from questioning per se is that Socratic questioning is systematic, disciplined, and deep and usually focuses on fundamental principles.

Socratic questioning illuminates the importance of questioning in learning. It illuminates the difference between systematic and fragmented thinking. It teaches us to dig beneath the surface of our ideas. It teaches us the value of developing questioning minds in cultivating deep learning. Integrating Socratic questions in the following manner in learning helps develop active, independent thinking.

The art of Socratic questioning is intimately connected with critical thinking because the art of questioning is important to excellence of thought. What the word “Socratic” adds to the art of questioning is systematic thinking, depth, and an abiding interest in assessing the truth or plausibility of things.

Critical thinking and Socratic questioning both seek meaning and truth. Critical thinking provides the rational tools to monitor, assess, and perhaps reconstitute or re-direct our thinking and action. Socratic questioning is an explicit focus on framing self-directed, disciplined questions to achieve that goal.

If anything, the ability to ask insightful questions will be even more critical tomorrow than it is today. As change continues to accelerate, tomorrow’s leaders—and the larger workforce—will have to keep learning, updating and adapting what they know, inventing and re-inventing their own jobs and careers through constant, ongoing inquiry.

The importance of questioning in learning illuminates the difference between systematic and fragmented thinking. It teaches us to dig beneath the surface of our ideas.

It teaches us the value of developing questioning minds to cultivate deep learning. Integrating questions in the following manner in our learning helps develop broader, more independent thinking:

Implications and consequences

For example, you may ask:  But if XYZ happened, what then would result?  How does ABC affect this?

Clarify your thinking

To clarify or crystallize thoughts ask:   Why do you say that? Or perhaps, could you explain your thinking further?

Challenging assumptions

To challenge assumptions, ask these questions: Is this always the case?  Why do you think that this assumption holds here?

Question reasons for the question

To expand reasoning behind a question ask these further questions: Why do you think that question was asked? Why was that question important? Which of these questions turned out to be the most useful?

Use evidence as a basis for argument

To understand the basis for an argument asks: Why do you say that? Or Is there reason to doubt this evidence?

Use alternative perspectives

Always look at things through different lenses. Ask these questions to broaden your perspectives:  What is this counter-argument for?  Can/did anyone see this another way?

The bottom line

So remember this always … only the one who does not question is safe from making a mistake. That is a very certain way to make your biggest mistake in life.

So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the importance of questioning to improve your learning and problem-solving. And put it to good use in adapting to changes in your learning environment.

It’s up to you to keep improving your learning and experience with innovation and creativity efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.

When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.

When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Are you devoting enough energy to continually improving your continuous learning?

Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of the business. Find him on Twitter, and LinkedIn.  

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.  

More reading on learning from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:

The Nine Most Valuable Secrets of Writing Effective Copy

How Good Is your Learning from Failure?

10 Extraordinary Ways for Learning to Learn

Continuous Learning Holds the Keys to Your Future Success