A More Beautiful Question (42 page)
Read A More Beautiful Question Online
Authors: Warren Berger
What if you could somehow have a darkroom inside a camera?
Why can’t the camera be easier to use?
Why does stepping back help us move forward?
Why does it pay to swim with dolphins?
Why aren't all enterprise software applications built like Amazon and eBay?
Why am I not happy? (And what if I were to do something about that?)
What does it mean to be convinced?
Why did George Carlin see things the rest of us missed?
When we step back, what do we then see?
Why do we do things the way we do them?
Why can’t computers do more than compute? (the question that helped “invent the Internet”)
What if we could create this same experience in every major city?
What if we take this idea on the road, and test it in another city?
How would those visitors, and the people with space to rent, learn about Airbnb?
Why are we limiting this to the US? What if we go global?
Why should we, as a society, continue to buy things we really don’t need to own?
What if we spent the next hundred years sharing more of our stuff? What if access trumped ownership?
Why can’t India have 911 emergency service?
How can we get those with money to pay more?
What if the ambulance doctors also carried the cots?
Why should we settle for what currently exists?
Why should I believe you when you tell me something can’t be done?
What makes you think you know more than the experts?
Why must we ‘question the question’?
Why did I come up with that question?
What are the underlying assumptions of my question?
Is there a different question I should be asking?
Why isn’t the water reaching the people who need it?
What if local communities could have the means to create their own sources of water?
Before we try to do this thing worldwide, how might we make it work in our own backyard?
How can we get more incubators to the places that need them?
Why aren’t people in developing countries using the incubators they have?
What if we could provide incubators that were easy to maintain and fix?
How can we make an incubator out of car parts?
How do we make gadgets that fit into people’s lives?
What is our patient experience really like?
Why is this my problem? And if it’s not my problem, why should it be?
Why do some people act on a question?
What if we could map the DNA of music? (Pandora’s big question)
Why can’t good musicians find the audience they deserve?
What if there was a radio station that could know what songs you would like before you knew?
What if we combine three snacks into one? And then add a prize?
What can be added to Cracker Jack to make it even more appealing?
How can we combine this money-making thing with that money-making thing to make even more money?
What if this amusement park could be like a movie, brought to life?
What if we combine A and B? Or A and Z? Or better yet, A and 26?
What if I put this together with that? (connective inquiry)
What if your brain is a forest, thick with trees? And what if the branches touch?
What if dots and dashes could sort the world?
What if you sleep with a question? Will you wake with an answer?
Why isn’t there a fast, inexpensive test for pancreatic cancer?
What if I combine these different ideas to solve this one problem?
How am I actually going to make this thing real… and affordable… and reliable?
What if some company started selling socks that didn’t match?
What if we could start with a blank page?
How can we give form to our questions? (constructive inquiry/prototyping)
Why am I oversleeping—why isn’t my alarm clock getting me up?
What if an alarm clock had wheels?
How do we gear up production? How do we handle the orders? How do we launch a full-fledged business?
How might we roll it instead of lugging it?
What if I put wheels on these suitcases? (the question behind the Rollaboard)
How do you build a tower that doesn’t collapse (even after you put the marshmallow on top)?
How do you make a hard-boiled egg’s shell disappear?
What if you could boil an egg in a hard-boiled egg shape, but with the shell off?
How can you learn to love a broken foot?
How do I learn to learn from failure?
Am I failing ‘differently’ each time?
How do you fit a large golf course on a small island?
What if golf balls simply traveled too far?
How might we create a symphony together?
If not now, then when? If not me, then who?
How might we cut the cord?, 131 (box)
Why are we still tethered to an outlet when recharging our devices?
How do I create vibration in the air without actually moving something?
How might we turn music into a more participatory experience?
How can we save a little bit of money, make it a little more efficient, where can we cut costs?
Why are we in business? (And by the way—what business are we really in?)
Who have we (as a company) historically been, when we’ve been at our best?
What was our higher purpose at the outset? And how can we rally people around that today?
Who must we fearlessly become?
What is true about us, at our core?
Are we really who we say we are?, (HBO’s big question)
Was it an original and worthwhile idea? And was this show the very best realization of that idea?
What if a running shoe could run your life?
What business is Nike really in?
What if our company didn’t exist?
What if we were to compete against ourselves?
What if money was no object? How might we approach the project differently?
What if we could only charge ten bucks for our hundred dollar service?
What if we could become a cause and not just a company?
What does the world hunger for?
What does the world need most… that we are uniquely able to provide?, (Panera’s big question)
How can we drive more ounces into more bodies, more often?, (Coca Cola’s “unbeautiful” question)
What if I peel off the skin and cut them into perfect mini-carrots?
What if we marketed baby carrots like junk food?
Do we want to take a shortcut on this, or do it right?
What if we asked people not to buy from us?
How can we make a better experiment?, (Eric Ries’ central question)
What is your tennis ball?, (Dropbox’s Drew Houston)
Is this a problem I could solve?
Will this make people’s lives meaningfully better?
How do companies get better at experimenting?
