Finding The Answer

Go find the answer.

Great if you’re looking for a new presentation software or a better way to file taxes. Terrible if you’re looking for innovation.

It’s terrible because when we go looking for answers, we can only find solutions that solve other people’s problems. Solutions that don’t account for our unique set of circumstances.

Instead of answers, we should be looking to ask the right questions. Because when we ask the right questions, we gain the ability to figure out what hasn’t been figured out and see what hasn’t been seen.

Questions lead to answers which lead to more questions. It’s a mindset that has you questioning everything and refusing to take things at face value.

In other words, it’s thinking like a scientist.

It's an approach that finds solutions to the problems we’re trying to solve and reveals problems we didn’t even know existed.

Looking for answers is counterintuitive to this approach. It's taking what we see at face value and refusing to ask any more questions that could lead to further insight.

However, when we look to ask for the right questions, we’re seeking that insight out. Pushing past what’s known and venturing towards the unknown.

And it’s in the unknown where innovation lies.