Questions over Answers

The smartest person in the room isn’t the one with all the answers.

It’s the one asking the questions no one else dares to ask. The simple questions. The obvious questions. The “wait, why are we doing this?” questions.

Sancho Panza didn’t have the education or eloquence of Don Quixote. But he had something more valuable: the courage to ask honest questions. “Master, are you sure those are giants? They look like windmills to me.”

What This Means

• Ask “why” before jumping to “how”
• Challenge assumptions, even popular ones
• Admit when you don’t understand something
• Let questions lead discovery, not ego
• Value curiosity over certainty

The Anti-Pattern

You’re violating this pillar when you:

• Pretend to understand when you don’t
• Jump to solutions before defining the problem
• Avoid “dumb” questions to look smart
• Let meetings end without asking “what are we actually deciding?”
• Assume you know what customers want without asking them

The Mantra

“The wise man doesn’t give the right answers, he poses the right questions.” — Claude Lévi-Strauss

The right question beats the wrong answer. Every time.