A more beautiful question The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas

Review by New York Times Review

Is there a relationship between innovation and the ability to ask ambitious questions? The journalist and "innovation expert" Berger argues there is, and in this breezy management book he seeks to improve our capacity to question - a capacity largely instinctive in children, he notes, citing one study that found the average 4-year-old British girl asks her mother 390 questions a day (gulp). To make his case, Berger tells a variety of stories. One of the most memorable is that of Van Phillips, who lost his lower left leg in a water skiing accident in 1976, when he was in his 20s. Phillips refused to accept the "lousy" state of prosthetics at the time: "Why should I settle?" He studied the artificial limb business (a relatively stagnant industry in the late 1970s and early '80s), and finally decided to make a better foot. Phillips worked through more than 200 prototypes, countless mistakes and subsequent questions before introducing his Flex-Foot, which changed the industry and countless lives; amputees using Phillips's creation have climbed Mount Everest and run in the Olympics. Berger presents a simple three-part framework, the "Why-What If-How" model, to guide effective inquiry. For example: During a 1943 vacation, Edwin Land's daughter asked why they had to wait to see the picture he had just taken. Her question set Land to thinking: What if you could somehow have a darkroom inside a camera? That question in turn led Land - the founder of the Polaroid Corporation - to ask how to apply chemicals inside the camera and how to print a positive, among other technical hurdles. In 1948, the company introduced the first commercial instant camera. One closes Berger's book newly conscious of the significance of smart questions - but also vaguely uncertain about how exactly to cultivate them in service to worthy change. Some questions are harder than others.

Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [April 27, 2014]

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Review by Booklist Review

Berger emphasizes the power of inquiry as he challenges us to see things with a fresh eye. He concentrates on game-changing questions, those that can result in actions that lead to real results. The author focuses on innovation and invention stories, explaining that in business, questions challenge authority and disrupt established structures, processes, and systems, forcing people to at least consider something different. Berger offers his framework for problem solving in three stages. The initial why stage involves seeing and understanding, which include noticing what others missed and challenging both our own and others' assumptions. The second, what-if, stage is about imagining that blue-sky moment of questioning when anything is possible; and the third, the how to action stage, is about doing. Asking the right questions will help us discover what matters, what opportunities exist, and how to find them. This thought-provoking book offers important insights to executives, and to those aspiring to leadership, for their business and personal use.--Whaley, Mary Copyright 2014 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Innovation specialist Berger (Glimmer) takes on some big questions in this absorbing treatise that calls for more curiosity in our corporate development and daily lives. Having studied the business realm, Berger found that many companies establish cultures that discourage inquiry, particularly the all-important question: "Why are we doing this particular thing this way?" Since entrenched practices tend to hold sway, Berger claims, people often try to solve problems by answering the wrong questions. His argument is structured, naturally enough, around "questions that can be acted upon and. can lead to tangible results and change." Chapters examine both the business and personal arenas, from "Why do smart businesspeople screw up?" to "What if you make one small change?" He also explores why companies don't train people to question and how they might go about it if they decided to try. Quirky sidebars on topics ranging from George Carlin to hard-boiled eggs add to the book's inquisitive spirit. This potential game-changer will help readers identify where opportunities lie and how to seize them. Agent: James A. Levine, Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

How the art of the inquiry can transform ideas into action. Journalist and advertising guru Berger (Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World, 2009) examines the science of questioning and the ways in which the world's top innovators have used it to their advantage. Establishing a "culture of inquiry" is a prudent move for both producer and consumer, writes the author, who cleverly examines the impact the "Whys, What Ifs, and Hows" have on the development of products like snow shovels, baby carrots and Crackerjack, among many others. Berger explores how, in asking "the question that defined the problem," struggling entrepreneurs have moved from product conception to profitable execution. Begun as a website assisted by volunteers and researchers, Berger's book expands further on questioning as a skilled art form that can be polished to gain its maximum benefits, even though the author finds its usage underutilized in today's electronic multimedia age. Berger makes great use of both historical and contemporary examples of educators, innovators and business moguls who, by taking time to ask pointed questions of themselves and their respective industries, have both broadened their understandings of challenging situations and expanded the range of positive possibilities. Rhetorically (and hypothetically) asking the right questions also enabled entrepreneurs to establish wildly successful businesses like Netflix ("What if the video-rental business were run like a health club?") or game-changing inventions like the microwave oven ("Could the energy from the radio waves be used to actually cook food?"). The author also touches on the reasons why we stop asking pertinent questions as we age and the ways parents can inspire inquisitiveness in children. If asking questions demonstrates an open willingness to know, Berger writes, the answers have the power to dispel ignorance. A practical testament to the significance of the questioning mind.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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