Collection
Big Questions

Asking big questions is an essential part of strategic thinking. The right questions can challenge accepted ways of thinking or enlarge the scope of a problem, allowing us to see matters from a new perspective. Many of the great insights in philosophy, history, and science have come from our attempts to answer these grand questions. Included in this collection are a number of examples of breakthrough thinking that is driven by asking these kinds of fundamental questions. The Universe is a Process for example shows that the universe is not a thing, but is composed of networks of information flows. And Plato's Allegory of the Cave forces us to re-examine our most basic assumptions by challenging our beliefs about the nature of truth. Another exhibit asks why Buddhism succeeded while Christianity failed to take hold in pre-modern China.

 
Sometimes the key to strategic insight is to ask the simple questions that no one thought - or dared - to ask. Taking these puzzling, sometimes trivial-seeming, questions seriously can yield some surprising insights. The best strategist is often the one who asks the right kinds of questions.