BE THE QUESTION, NOT THE ANSWER.
One meeting. No answers. Just real questions.
Outlier Operating System: Episode 09 is live.
BE THE QUESTION, NOT THE ANSWER.
The temptation to chip in with an answer. A smart comment. A statistic that you know.
An idea you think is brilliant.
And of course, your judgment, your opinion, and your decision.
What if we could resist it just a little bit… And start with a question.
Something provocative, or thought prodding? Nothing fancy or trying to be smart,
Just a question that is hanging but left unsaid, until now.
My friend once walked into a product sprint where everyone was debating feature sets.
She asked, “What problem are we actually solving, and for whom?”
Silence. Then clarity.
One question did more than 10 arguments.
Replace trying to be an expert, with being the most inquisitive one.
A person who clearly says it aloud, that
I DON’T KNOW, let’s find out.
"Why don’t you tell me what you think?"
"What would you do in this situation?"
"Can we look at this from a few other angles?"
Let’s share our directions without any fear of being judged.
Just for this meeting! A new approach. A congregation of questions, for most which we may have no answers.
Imagine.
Your team coming to this meet with a whole lot of open queries:
What if?
Why not?
How about?
Shall we?
Spark thinking instead of satisfying expectations, or pitching for positioning.
We’re wired to reward people who have the fastest answers. But real value often comes from the slowest, sharpest questions. That’s the Answer Bias in action, and outliers flip it.
Wouldn’t we love to be the question masters…?
What if you showed up to the next meeting with no answers: Just 3 questions?
Try it once. Watch what shifts.
One meeting. No answers. Just real questions. You in?
Outlier Operating System: Micro Habit: Being the one who questions, not just answers.
OOS TOOL: THE QUESTION SHIFT
Use this before your next team meet, brainstorm, or review session:
1. Replace every answer with a question.
2. Come in with 3 high-quality questions.
3. Frame exploration over evaluation.
4. Close with a clarity check.
If just one person does this, the room shifts.
If a team does this, innovation kicks in.
Are you showing up to be right, or to be an explorer?
Be the person who asks the question no one else dares to.
One meeting. One question. That’s the task.
***
Past work from the OUTLIER OPERATING SYSTEM Series.
TWO: MICRO PROJECT MAVERICK | A GIG CALL-FOR
Part-time. Full-time. Experimenting!
WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR
Too sharp for your current gig. Too restless to wait for permission. You love tinkering with ideas. Playing with formats. Making things real.
We’re looking for someone with Agency. That rare kind of person who takes a messy idea, asks the right questions, then shapes, builds, and ships it without waiting for perfect clarity.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
EXAMPLES OF LIVE AND PAST PROJECTS
YOU’LL FIT IF YOU:
* Prefer action over analysis | Get uncomfortable without a project to build or ship
* Think, write, sketch, or prototype to express yourself
* Can navigate ambiguity and shape your own direction and love to say:
“Yeah, I helped build that weird, wild thing”.
WHAT YOU GET
THREE: POINTLESS CREATION
What if your next great idea started as… pointless?
Not strategic. Not monetizable. Not even meant for an audience.
Just created, for the sake of it.
This week’s Shameless Creativity drop is about resisting the pressure to create for something… and choosing to create from something.
Check out: POINTLESS CREATION quiet nudge to scribble, scratch, or sculpt, without a goal.
FOUR: WHY A DROP IS IMPORTANT?
Why?
Why not?
I love being a drop.
Who knows what will happen?
Perhaps a dew drop adding beauty.
Or a few more collecting to quench a thirst.
Many more leading to a stream of creativity.
A drop.
A speech.
An article.
A book.
A voice.
A disruptor.
An outlier.
Drop by drop.
Talk to me for Keynotes on setting up your referral growth system.
Or to work on your second level of leadership through marketing psychology.
#outlier #marketing #creativity #decisionmaking #trust #networking #shameless
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Psychotherapist | Founder – DSSG & Better Mynd Waves | Bestselling Author | TEDx Speaker (3x) | Mental Well-being Evangelist | Strategic Advisor & Storyteller
2wThe right question can shift an entire room. Sometimes courage sounds less like certainty—and more like curiosity.
Empowering Men to Lead with Emotional Mastery | International Speaker | SPR Framework Coach | Author of 'The Alchemy of Anger
2wSimply superb. Love the idea of “Be the question, Not the answer”