BUS 270 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
What are the 3 stages of innovative questioning? - Answers - WHY, WHAT IF, HOW
WHY stage (innovative questioning) - Answers - Understand and challenge the
problem: question how things work now, challenge assumptions, look beneath
symptoms, reframe, and find the real/root problem
WHAT IF stage (innovative questioning) - Answers - Generate possibilities: think
divergently, suspend judgment, produce many ideas, combine unrelated ideas, ask
imaginative questions (practicality comes later)
HOW stage (innovative questioning) - Answers - Turn possibilities into reality: choose
promising ideas, experiment, prototype, test, gather feedback, learn from failure, revise,
and repeat
Quick memory trick for WHY / WHAT IF / HOW - Answers - WHY = What's wrong?
WHAT IF = What could be? HOW = How do we make it happen?
Is WHY → WHAT IF → HOW a straight line? - Answers - No. Learning during HOW can
send you back to WHY or WHAT IF; the process loops
Example of a WHY question (parking problem) - Answers - Asking why students can't
find parking (instead of just building a new lot) can reveal the real problem is how
spaces/permits are allocated, not the total number of spaces
Example of WHAT IF questions (parking problem) - Answers - What if students could
see parking availability before arriving? What if permits changed by time of day? What if
students reserved spaces?
Example of HOW (parking problem) - Answers - Don't build the whole app first: make a
simple mock-up, test whether students would use live parking info, get feedback, and
improve it
Connective inquiry - Answers - Linking or recombining ideas that normally seem
unrelated to create a new possibility (Idea A + Idea B → new solution)
How can you encourage connective inquiry? - Answers - Step away from the problem
sometimes: walking, relaxing, daydreaming, and sleep give the brain space to make
new connections
Example of connective inquiry - Answers - Dating-app swiping + restaurant
recommendations → an app where a group swipes until everyone agrees on a
restaurant
,Prototype (according to A More Beautiful Question) - Answers - A quick, inexpensive
version of an idea used to test it, learn what works or fails, revise, and try again before
fully committing. The purpose is learning, not perfection
Prototype cycle - Answers - Build → Test → Learn → Change → Test again
Questions a prototype helps answer - Answers - Does it actually work? How will people
use it? What did we misunderstand? What needs to change?
Forms of idea generating and questioning (Ch. 4 / Ch. 7 subsection) - Answers -
Brainstorming (generates ideas/answers), question-storming (generates questions), and
the Question Formulation Technique (QFT); leaders should ask curious, open,
assumption-challenging questions
Question-storming - Answers - Generating questions instead of answers; the goal is to
produce many useful questions before trying to solve anything
Why question-storm instead of only brainstorm? - Answers - Questions uncover
assumptions, redefine the problem, and open more directions before choosing an
answer; you may discover you were solving the wrong problem
Question Formulation Technique (QFT) - Answers - A structured process for generating
and working with your own questions, developed by the Right Question Institute (RQI)
QFT steps in order - Answers - Question Focus → Generate Questions → Improve
Questions → Prioritize Questions → Decide Next Steps → Reflect
Three thinking skills developed by questioning - Answers - Divergent thinking,
convergent thinking, and metacognitive thinking
Divergent thinking - Answers - Creating many possibilities
Convergent thinking - Answers - Narrowing many possibilities down to the best ones
Metacognitive thinking - Answers - Thinking about your own thinking (and your own
questions)
RQI / Right Question Institute - Answers - Associated with Dan Rothstein and Luz
Santana; teaches people how to generate and work with their own questions
What should a leader ask? - Answers - Curious (not judgmental), open-ended questions
that challenge assumptions, focus on learning rather than proving the leader right, and
explore WHY, WHAT IF, and HOW
, What should a leader NOT ask? - Answers - Questions that are really disguised
commands, rhetorical questions, or questions designed to blame someone
Clayton Christensen — useful disruptive question - Answers - What if the company did
not exist? It forces people to set aside past investments and reconsider the problem
from scratch
Preschool questioning rate - Answers - Preschool children ask about 100 questions per
day
Questioning and school engagement - Answers - Both tend to decline as students get
older
Deborah Meier's five habits of mind - Answers - Evidence, Viewpoint, Connection,
Conjecture, and Relevance
Reed Hastings (in the book) - Answers - Created Netflix
Percy Spencer (in the book) - Answers - Discovered microwave heating after noticing a
candy bar melted near microwave equipment
IBM's Jeopardy system (in the book) - Answers - Watson
Why do people avoid questioning? (Ch. 5 / Ch. 10) - Answers - Fear of looking
uninformed or wrong, peer judgment, challenging authority, slowing things down,
creating uncertainty/change; organizations often reward answers more than questions
Why is questioning uncomfortable in organizations? - Answers - A question can
challenge authority, expose weak policies or flawed assumptions, and force people to
reconsider systems, money, time, or status they have already invested
Key exam idea: why questioning feels threatening - Answers - It challenges the status
quo
Appreciative inquiry (Ch. 5 / Ch. 7) - Answers - Strengths-based questioning: ask what
is already working well, then figure out how to expand or repeat it
Appreciative inquiry vs. traditional problem inquiry - Answers - Traditional: What's
wrong? Appreciative: What's working, and how can we do more of it?
Appreciative inquiry example questions - Answers - When has our company performed
exceptionally well? What made that possible? How could we create more of those
conditions?
What are the 3 stages of innovative questioning? - Answers - WHY, WHAT IF, HOW
WHY stage (innovative questioning) - Answers - Understand and challenge the
problem: question how things work now, challenge assumptions, look beneath
symptoms, reframe, and find the real/root problem
WHAT IF stage (innovative questioning) - Answers - Generate possibilities: think
divergently, suspend judgment, produce many ideas, combine unrelated ideas, ask
imaginative questions (practicality comes later)
HOW stage (innovative questioning) - Answers - Turn possibilities into reality: choose
promising ideas, experiment, prototype, test, gather feedback, learn from failure, revise,
and repeat
Quick memory trick for WHY / WHAT IF / HOW - Answers - WHY = What's wrong?
WHAT IF = What could be? HOW = How do we make it happen?
Is WHY → WHAT IF → HOW a straight line? - Answers - No. Learning during HOW can
send you back to WHY or WHAT IF; the process loops
Example of a WHY question (parking problem) - Answers - Asking why students can't
find parking (instead of just building a new lot) can reveal the real problem is how
spaces/permits are allocated, not the total number of spaces
Example of WHAT IF questions (parking problem) - Answers - What if students could
see parking availability before arriving? What if permits changed by time of day? What if
students reserved spaces?
Example of HOW (parking problem) - Answers - Don't build the whole app first: make a
simple mock-up, test whether students would use live parking info, get feedback, and
improve it
Connective inquiry - Answers - Linking or recombining ideas that normally seem
unrelated to create a new possibility (Idea A + Idea B → new solution)
How can you encourage connective inquiry? - Answers - Step away from the problem
sometimes: walking, relaxing, daydreaming, and sleep give the brain space to make
new connections
Example of connective inquiry - Answers - Dating-app swiping + restaurant
recommendations → an app where a group swipes until everyone agrees on a
restaurant
,Prototype (according to A More Beautiful Question) - Answers - A quick, inexpensive
version of an idea used to test it, learn what works or fails, revise, and try again before
fully committing. The purpose is learning, not perfection
Prototype cycle - Answers - Build → Test → Learn → Change → Test again
Questions a prototype helps answer - Answers - Does it actually work? How will people
use it? What did we misunderstand? What needs to change?
Forms of idea generating and questioning (Ch. 4 / Ch. 7 subsection) - Answers -
Brainstorming (generates ideas/answers), question-storming (generates questions), and
the Question Formulation Technique (QFT); leaders should ask curious, open,
assumption-challenging questions
Question-storming - Answers - Generating questions instead of answers; the goal is to
produce many useful questions before trying to solve anything
Why question-storm instead of only brainstorm? - Answers - Questions uncover
assumptions, redefine the problem, and open more directions before choosing an
answer; you may discover you were solving the wrong problem
Question Formulation Technique (QFT) - Answers - A structured process for generating
and working with your own questions, developed by the Right Question Institute (RQI)
QFT steps in order - Answers - Question Focus → Generate Questions → Improve
Questions → Prioritize Questions → Decide Next Steps → Reflect
Three thinking skills developed by questioning - Answers - Divergent thinking,
convergent thinking, and metacognitive thinking
Divergent thinking - Answers - Creating many possibilities
Convergent thinking - Answers - Narrowing many possibilities down to the best ones
Metacognitive thinking - Answers - Thinking about your own thinking (and your own
questions)
RQI / Right Question Institute - Answers - Associated with Dan Rothstein and Luz
Santana; teaches people how to generate and work with their own questions
What should a leader ask? - Answers - Curious (not judgmental), open-ended questions
that challenge assumptions, focus on learning rather than proving the leader right, and
explore WHY, WHAT IF, and HOW
, What should a leader NOT ask? - Answers - Questions that are really disguised
commands, rhetorical questions, or questions designed to blame someone
Clayton Christensen — useful disruptive question - Answers - What if the company did
not exist? It forces people to set aside past investments and reconsider the problem
from scratch
Preschool questioning rate - Answers - Preschool children ask about 100 questions per
day
Questioning and school engagement - Answers - Both tend to decline as students get
older
Deborah Meier's five habits of mind - Answers - Evidence, Viewpoint, Connection,
Conjecture, and Relevance
Reed Hastings (in the book) - Answers - Created Netflix
Percy Spencer (in the book) - Answers - Discovered microwave heating after noticing a
candy bar melted near microwave equipment
IBM's Jeopardy system (in the book) - Answers - Watson
Why do people avoid questioning? (Ch. 5 / Ch. 10) - Answers - Fear of looking
uninformed or wrong, peer judgment, challenging authority, slowing things down,
creating uncertainty/change; organizations often reward answers more than questions
Why is questioning uncomfortable in organizations? - Answers - A question can
challenge authority, expose weak policies or flawed assumptions, and force people to
reconsider systems, money, time, or status they have already invested
Key exam idea: why questioning feels threatening - Answers - It challenges the status
quo
Appreciative inquiry (Ch. 5 / Ch. 7) - Answers - Strengths-based questioning: ask what
is already working well, then figure out how to expand or repeat it
Appreciative inquiry vs. traditional problem inquiry - Answers - Traditional: What's
wrong? Appreciative: What's working, and how can we do more of it?
Appreciative inquiry example questions - Answers - When has our company performed
exceptionally well? What made that possible? How could we create more of those
conditions?
