Today is Election Day, and I encourage you not to take this for granted. Please go out and vote. We are blessed to live in the greatest country in the world where we have the opportunity to vote in free elections. We are free to disagree. We are free to express our opinions and challenge each other.
Interestingly I have just started a book that I think will help me have more open dialogue and understand others better. Maybe even understanding myself better. The book is <a href=”https://warrenberger.com/the-book-of-beautiful-questions/”>“The Book of Beautiful Questions” by Warren Berger</a>. Mr. Berger first wrote <a href=”https://warrenberger.com/a-more-beautiful-question-the-book-the-blog/”>“A More Beautiful Question”</a> where he promotes the idea that ‘…questioning is a starting point for innovation.’
Isn’t that so true? Innovation comes from challenges, sometimes even laziness… looking for an easier way to accomplish a task. Or change comes from the question “Why?” Why do I think this way? Why do we follow this particular process or follow this common path?
Watching children grow and develop is a great example of questioning. Sometimes it’s frustrating, but the best teachers challenge their students to explore ideas. To take a question and search for answers. Too often we stomp on the questioning minds of the young.
I’m excited to get into this book and hope I will become better at asking questions of others and myself. Admittedly, this is a bit of a challenge for me! I’m more extroverted with lots of ideas I love to share. Slowing down, having thoughtful questions and listening to others is something I’m working on.
If you have had success in overcoming the challenge of listening better and questioning more, I’d love to hear from you. If you are more of an introvert and you’ve experienced discussions with a person who helped you have the opportunity to speak your mind, whose questions helped draw out your thoughts, I’d love to hear about that too. And if you would like to read this book along with me, just let me know.
We can be overwhelmed by issues our world is facing. Bringing actions back to what we can do and who we can influence is very helpful. Again, please consider voting today if you haven’t already. Walk away knowing that all of our opinions matter. Whatever the outcome, we can still work together toward solutions.