Ask innovator questions to challenge assumptions

I value questions, so I really liked "The Innovator's DNA" by Jeffery H. Dyer, Hal B. Gregersen and Clayton M. Christensen in the December 2009 issue of the Harvard Business Review. The authors write that most managers ask questions that perpetuate the status quo, such as "How can we promote widget sales in Taiwan?" as opposed to innovator questions that focus on challenging assumptions, such as "If we cut the size of the widget, how would that change the value proposition it offers?" They counsel asking questions starting with "Why?" "Why not?" or "What if?" They also suggest questions based upon an assumed constraint, such as asking how the company would make money the following year if its main product became illegal or questioning sunk costs by asking a manager: If the company had not already spent the money on the project, would he or she do things the same way again? Always question the status quo. Question authority. But questions only are useful where there is a culture of candid caring. Beware: Many organizations do not like those who ask questions. An organization may say it welcomes queries but in reality does not; it just wants to flush out those who are different. Such companies are the past, not the future. With that caveat, question away.