Good morning, the last week of summer holidays here in Canada, and the back to school rush is in full swing. My advice, if you don’t have kids, don’t go shopping this week! And  of course for parents, students and teachers here in BC, our hopes are for a settlement in this frustrating work stoppage.
I have a friend named Bob. Bob sells the “Megaphone”, a ‘street newspaper’ in front of my local grocery store. http://www.megaphonemagazine.com/ I buy copies periodically, especially if there is an interesting article. The most recent article has a very interesting article called “Battling the War on Drugs; Inside Canada’s Overdose Crisis” that I highly recommend. But what got me thinking about leadership was in my horoscope on the last page Yes, my horoscope. Megaphone’s Horoscopes are periodically just quirky enough to stop me in my tracks. Virgo’s sign reads “A creative rut has taken hold. Art tip: reignite your childlike wonder by asking, at dinner parties, what would you rather have: a dragon or a beard?”
I think it is a great question; it’s big enough, it’s ambiguous, it’s the kind of question that comes out of left field and stops us mid thought. And I’m sure it would be a lot of fun at a dinner party.  And it is a great indicator of the source of creativity in our work. I suggest creativity is derived from questions, not answers. All too often we are expected to attend meetings with answers and not questions; that old school line ‘don’t come to me with problems, come to me with solutions’ comes to mind. The key, as we’ve learned from folks like Peter Senge and Peter Block, lies in the crafting of  good questions.
Specifically, avoid questions like, ‘here is our problem, what does everybody think?’ That’s a sure way to invite crickets into the meeting room. Rather, how about (stealing from Peter Block) what is the crossroads at which we find ourselves here? Or, (stealing from Juanita Brown) ‘if our success were completely guaranteed, what bold steps might we take here?’ These and other questions are often called “Powerful Questions” in the language of Co-Active Coaching. Here’s a list of good ones; http://www.thecoaches.com/docs/resources/toolkit/pdfs/31-Powerful-Questions.pdf
As you go through your week, spend as much time asking questions as you can, and you’ll find that the creativity in your team will begin to increase. And the more ambiguous the question the better; and let me know, what would you rather be, a dragon or a beard and why?