Three questions form the essence of innovation

In A More Beautiful Question, Berger notes that the essence of innovation can be summarized (and triggered) in three sequential questions:[1]

  1. Why? (Why are things the way they are?)
  2. What if? (What if things were different?)
  3. How Might We? (What can be done about it?)

…the logic in this sequence reflects how people tend to approach and work through problems—progressing from becoming aware of and understanding the problem, to thinking of possible solutions, to trying to enact those solutions. If “What If” is about imagining and “How” is about doing, the initial “Why” stage has to do with seeing and understanding.

#innovation-creativity

See also:

  1. A More Beautiful Question – Berger (2014), § “Why do we have to wait for the picture?” Note that, as Sebastian Thrun observes, questions beget more innovation which, in turn generates new questions because it pushes outward the boundary of the Adjacent Possible:

    The changes are fueled by the questions being asked—but those changes, in turn, fuel more questions. That’s because with each new advance... one must pause to ask, “Now that we know what we now know, what’s possible now?“ (§ “What business are we in now—and is there still a job for me?”)

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