3. Define key questions

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Cartoon image titled “define key questions,” with a detailed diagram stating the purpose, that is, to offer ways of working strategically with questions, and the goal, that is, to have a set of impactful questions for the next meeting, project, or process. The diagram contains the building blocks, the steps required, and the topics to be covered.

Good questions

Our lives are given fundamental meaning by the questions we ask and that are asked of us.

People's ability to reflect on the world and ask questions has been essential to progress and development. “What does it mean to be human?” This was the question posed by S⊘ren Kierkegaard. The search for answers consumed the whole of his brief life and laid the foundation of existentialism. “How can we create a free, living, natural people's enlightenment?” asked N.F.S. Grundtvig, laying the foundation of the Danish public school system.

What will I be when I grow up? What matters most to me? What should I study? Where will I live? With whom? Questions set a direction and focus our attention. Whether we are dealing with fundamental, personal, or organizational questions, good questions inspire us to seek meaningful answers. It is therefore worth spending the time to formulate good questions.

“If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions. Because when I know the question, I can solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

—Attributed to Albert Einstein

We gather around questions. Many organizations, projects, and meetings have been created to find answers to one or more ...

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