“If I had an hour to solve a problem, and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”
Albert Einstein
Every talented teacher knows the value of asking the right questions. Through intentional and thoughtful questions, you can focus on the heart of any matter and reach a deeper understanding. In fact, you can tell a lot about someone by the questions they ask.
I’ve been inspired by the writings of Todd Henry over the years. His first book, Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant At a Moment’s Notice gives very practical advice to those of us who generate content and solutions on a regular basis: be it in meetings, in chapel, or in the classroom. He also believes passionately in the value of asking the right questions in your work. For example, are you willing to ask questions that might be inconvenient or even make people around you uncomfortable? Or, do you only stick to “safe” questions; ones that have easy answers and don’t really get to the heart of the matter?
We will all be in San Antonio together soon for our Biennial Conference. Our theme this year is “Be Strong and Courageous.” I wonder about our capacity for being strong and asking courageous questions in our communities; questions that go to the core of how we are living our mission as Episcopal schools and where we might be failing short. It is easy to avoid those types of questions out of fear of how they might be received or out of fear of how we might be perceived for asking them. Or, perhaps there is fear of the requisite accountability when we are strong and explore the answer to a courageous question.
Henry argues that brilliant, creative leaders are willing to ask questions like, “Why are we doing this?” “What if we are wrong?” “What if we tried…?” Strong and courageous leaders are willing to lean into uncomfortable questions because of what they yield: getting to the heart of the issue faster and likely solving the problem more effectively, as a result. The positive impact on a community is worth the discomfort of proposing the question in the first place.
So, is there an uncomfortable question that you have been avoiding? How might you be strong and courageous today in pursuing the answer?