Finding the Answers to the Question

When things get crazy, people have questions. When people have questions, we, as professionals, are supposed to have answers. The problem is – which one is the right one?

Rory Sutherland explains how in markets there is never a single right answer to a clearly defined question. Instead, there’s a range of right answers to a question that is constantly shifting. 

How often is a question of, “why did this happen,” or “what’s really going on,” actually a version of, “how does this impact me,” or “I feel nervous, but should I?” Like Sutherland says, these shifting questions have a range of correct answers.

We can’t know what questions people are really asking until we engage with them. The questions that never get asked, or worse – the questions we never hear – those are the ones that should keep us up at night.

When we really understand the reasons why people are asking questions, we’re ready to figure out the story we want to tell. Once we know our story, we just have to get out there and tell it.