The Right Question

The right question is the question with the highest probability of making the biggest difference at that particular point in solving a problem.

Problem solving is the art of asking the right questions and finding their answers. Cultures have many ways to teach this skill. One way is playing the game of “twenty questions.” In this game the goal is to guess what object someone is thinking of with twenty yes or no questions or less. The closer a question comes to dividing the remaining possibilities into two equal sized groups, the better. For this reason a good first question is “Is it a form of life?” If the answer is yes, a good second question is “Is it a plant?” since this divides the remaining possibilities into plants or animals. Experienced players have a standard tree of questions to ask in the early parts of a game. They also have a strategy for helping to design the right question in the later part of the game as questions become more specific. In effect they have a reusable process they improve with each game, which is why they are so good at asking the right question. The ability to do this looks like magic to those with no such process.

Successful game players, parents, business managers, researches, investigators, doctors, and other types of problem solvers all have one key skill in common: the ability to ask The Right Question. Nothing else so separates the sheep from the goats. The greatest problem solving skill is the ability to ask The Right Question.

As one example, Kaizen, a quality control practiced developed in Japan, is gradual, unending process improvement. It teaches "problem solvers to ask why not once but five times. Often the first answer to a problem is not the root cause. Asking why several times will dig out several causes, one of which is usually the root cause." In the example shown, "it was possible to identify the real cause and hence the real solution: attaching a strainer to the lubricating pump. If the workers had not gone through such repetitive questions, they might have settled with an intermediate countermeasure, such as replacing the fuse." (1) One way to describe Kaizen is it is a process for asking The Right Question until the root cause of a problem is found.

As another example, my cousin Scott Durlacher, a former business manager and now a consultant, doesn't describe how things are going at work in the usual way. Instead, he rattles off the right questions (and their related incidents) he’s asked others lately, such as: “We have a lot of non-disclosure agreements. Shouldn't we be looking at them to see if any have expired? If they have, people we’re talking to right now could do anything they want with the ideas we’re showing to them.” or “Isn't there a way to get that company to finish that project in two weeks instead of six? How about if we paid them an extra amount to expedite their work?” or “Thanks for alerting me to that problem. But what are our options? What do you think would work best? Why?” This management style is penetratingly productive. It also has the rather beautiful secondary benefit of teaching others to ask their own right questions.

The sample problem solving process that Thwink.org uses, the System Improvement Process, is nothing more than a template for asking The Right Question at each step in a process that is tailored to solving complex social system problems.

Problem solving is the art of asking the right questions and finding their answers. Therefore, the most important tool a problem solver can have is a tool that maximizes the probability of asking the right questions and finding their answers. That tool is process. If you don't have one, get one. If you can't find one, invent one. And if you already have one, continuously improve it, and it will soon be performing wonders that are beyond anyone's fondest dreams.

(1) From Kaizen: the Key to Japan’s Competitive Success, by Masaaki Imai, 1986, page 50.