Ideas can be fantastic. In his essential 2014 book ‘Hegarty on Creativity’, John Hegarty describes them as “the most profound of products that we as humans generate”. They drive our industry.
But, I’d argue, questions are more important.
They are the niggles, the doubts, the wonderings, the grit in the oyster.
The right question – and even sometimes the wrong one – can make the difference between a project flying or flailing.
Question Culture
Managers have a responsibility to encourage a ‘question culture’. I recently sat in a brainstorm and listened to a complicated, sermon-like brief being delivered, followed by a tense tumbleweed moment while the creative congregation considers its reaction. Perhaps it’s my time as a journalist which empowered me to break the silence: “Sorry, I don’t really understand that. What does it mean?”
On that occasion, it was pure expediency which sparked the question. More commonly, it is curiosity which should be the driver. Because for my money, lack of curiosity – particularly in our business – is the only unpardonable sin.
Three words still haunt me from my former life as a journalist: “He didn’t say”.
I was writing a story about a punter who had won big on a day at the races.
My fearsome News Editor mused, menacingly, (yes, he even did that menacingly) “I don’t suppose it was his first trip to the racecourse, was it?”
“He didn’t say,” I replied.
A beat. “YOU MEAN YOU DIDN’T ASK, DON’T YOU?”
Now, you could chalk that up to inexperience, or nerves. But what it really exposed was a lack of curiosity – and once exposed, that had to be corrected, because, as my gimlet-eyed mentor pointed out, without curiosity you’ll never thrive in a creative culture.
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Curiosity
Curiosity can be learned. It can be practiced. If you’re not genuinely interested in, say, WD-40, act as if you are. Ask enough questions until you find something that is actually interesting. It usually doesn’t take as long as you’d think (fun fact, found in less than two minutes – WD-40 was once used by a bus driver in Asia to remove a python which had coiled itself around the undercarriage of his vehicle. That’s actually interesting).
The oft-repeated brainstorm mantra that “there are no wrong/bad ideas” should be extended to include “wrong/stupid questions” because the wrong question can so often provide the pivot for a completely fresh approach – “I don’t know, let’s find out”.
Discovery can be an exciting thing. Admittedly, it’s all relative. Stumbling on the ruins of an ancient civilization is, I imagine, thrilling. Trying to come up with a winning idea about a new treatment for piles, less so. But staying curious is the surest way to keep the twin evils of boredom and complacency at bay.