‘A More Beautiful Question’ by Warren Berger

Book Overview

Warren Berger’s book ‘A More Beautiful Question’ is a how-to guide on curiosity. It’s an argument for embracing a beginner’s mindset. The reason why I love this book so much is because it helps you question everything: your job, your lifestyle, your daily choices, even your hard held beliefs. It challenges you to think differently, and in sales having a different point of view is crucial to success.

Have you ever practiced how you ask questions? Berger states that we believe questioning is a skill we are all born with, so we don’t need to practice it. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Berger details in this book, being an expert questioner may set you apart in a world that is becoming continuously automated with technology. For now you just need to ask yourself one question: why wouldn’t you buy this book?

Key Concepts

Why do we stop asking questions?

According to one study in this book the number of questions we ask progressively decreases starting around the age of 5. One obvious reason is because as we learn more, we need to ask less questions like ‘what is this? what is that?’. The problem is that we also stop questioning ideas, thoughts, and the status quo. Berger explains that we are taught to stop asking questions because it challenges authority. Questions disrupt the current systems and strategies in place that schools and businesses have set up.

Berger also explains that we are taught at an early age that being incorrect is a bad thing. As a result we try avoid being wrong as much as possible. The issue is that the need to be right stops us from questioning our own assumptions. The book mentions this quote: ‘Knowing leads to a certainty epidemic, we put too much faith in our gut instinct’ - Robert Burton. Once we accept that it’s okay to be naive, a new world of possibilities opens up.

Berger’s Questioning Sequence

So asking questions is important, but what is the best way to ask them? Berger has developed the below sequence to help you frame your questioning in order to reach tangible outcomes:

  • Why?

    • We begin with ‘why’ to challenge the current accepted truth. Berger suggests taking a beginner’s mindset here and to pretend like you have no current understanding of a problem. Asking why helps us ‘take a step back to move forward’ according to Berger. The book describes an exercise where you ask yourself a ‘why’ question and answer it with a ‘why’ question 5 times in a row to get to the root problem you are trying to solve.

  • What if?

    • The ‘what if’ stage is where your imagination can run wild. If you have any practical expertise in a problem you are solving you can utilize it in this stage. That being said, don’t limit yourself to how many ‘what if’ questions you ask. The more questions you ask yourself, the more creative solutions you’ll be able to come up with.

  • How?

    • After you have distilled down your list of ‘what if’ questions, you need to figure out how to solve them. Consider all of the possible solutions and begin testing. As Berger explains, it’s okay to fail in this stage many times. The key is to just start trying out solutions and avoid analysis paralysis. If you do fail, start the question loop over by asking: Why did I fail?

Key Takeaways to Sell More

Customer Questioning

  • Be curious about your customer’s business. This is important when you are doing your research on a company and when you are on your discovery calls. The book also discusses that the key to asking good questions is listening effectively. While you are talking to your customer, listen to what they are saying and respond with relevant questions. Don’t worry about trying to get the answers you want to hear (ex. B.A.N.T.).

  • If we all naturally stop asking questions in adulthood, then why assume your customers are questioning their business processes. It’s hard to sell against the current state for a reason. Help your customers ask questions of their own business using the above framework.

Question Your Business

  • Territory and account planning is a common practice at the start of every sales rep’s year. Use this framework during that process to approach your sales strategy at a new angle. Why am I focused on these accounts? Why am I running my sales cycle the way I am? What if I approached a different contact title than normal? What if I tried different messaging? What if I used a new method to get in touch with people? What if I changed when I call/email? How do I change these processes? How do I measure success? Most importantly: Try something new, it’s okay to fail!

Personal Take

I have always been curious about topics I know nothing about. This book made me be curious about topics I thought I was an expert on. I also agree that it’s incredibly important to attack ideas and concepts with a beginner’s mindset. Not just in work, but in life too. While writing this blog I thought about a two part question I was asked once: What are the stories you tell yourself and believe to be true? What if those stories weren’t true? Hopefully this post has encouraged you to ask more questions. For a deeper dive and specific practices for questioning work and life, check out ‘A More Beautiful Question’.

Author Bio: Warren Berger

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‘When’ by Daniel Pink