Do you want the Beautiful Question or the Ugly Answer?
For my birthday my friend Joel gave me his program from the Penn & Teller show in Las Vegas.
The show was, by all accounts, amazing. Part of Penn & Teller’s genius is that they want you to know that magic has an explanation – no getting conned by psychics and spoon benders and the like – and they deconstruct how the magic works … in most of the cases.
(The magic bullet trick here is one trick that they don’t explain. And I sure can’t figure it out)
In the printed program, Teller (the silent and short one) writes about “the stuff you never see” and takes us on something of a tour of backstage.
One line of his particularly grabbed me:
“My job is to leave you with a beautiful question, not an ugly answer.”
I love that distinction.
Put aside the answers for the moment, ugly or otherwise.
What are the beautiful questions that might shift things for you before you get going on what’s got your attention? Do any of these work for you?
What’s the generous thing to do?
What’s the most fun thing to do?
How do you intend to show up?
Who could you do this with?
What help will you ask for?
What’s the risk you’ll take today?
- The answer? Dance more.
- “Make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.” [Great Work Quote]
- Do you mu? (or: How to unask the question)
I created an entire connection exercise called the 8 Minute Ripple that focuses on helping people get to know one another with these kinds of great questions because the answers are rarely ugly and almost always incredibly insightful beyond belief!
Great post – as always.
Ripple On!!!
Thanks for raising awareness about the power of asking the right questions. I always ask questions and try to maintain that curiosity I had as a child. You know, when you ask why is the sky blue, what are clouds, and on and on.
And, questions always lead to answers – ugly or otherwise – it’s a beautiful thing.
I think as adults we have to reconnect to that playful, questioning part of us – there are answers just waiting to amaze us, if we would only ask…
Lee Ann Price
As a person that mostly answers questions, (sometimes with questions of my own) I love the beautiful questions and the whole idea. Here’s another one when asking about music: “what do you do while you listen to it?” The answers almost always make me want to buy the album. Thanks, love the blog.