What makes a good, or even a beautiful question?

❓ What differentiates a great question? The simple answer is that great questions move something or someone forward. They deepen knowledge, they build capability.

More than anything, great questions have implicit cognitive load. They create effort, and it is this effort that creates legacy learning in the brain. The transformation seen is proportional to the amount of cognitive effort given.

Other characteristics of great questions include:
✅ Easy to understand (the effort is in the answer generation, not the making sense of the question itself)
✅ Free of agenda, assumptions and judgment (these are easily detected and trigger threat states)
✅ Guide the ‘questionee’ along a path of reflection, clarity and, potentially, insight.

This explains the why-question dilemma. When we are considering purpose (e.g.), “Why are you a teacher?” triggers the reflection-clarity pathway. “Why are you always late to out meetings?” is loaded with judgment and even assumption.

Besides the question in my last post, there are a few favourite questions in my repertoire:
“What are your thoughts?” A beautiful invitation to reflect in four words, especially powerful after giving feedback.
“What if... “ Historically, a powerful frame for change.

🧠 What are your thoughts?