OK Leader! - A Question That Stopped Me in My Tracks

➔ Leadership in practice

I’ve just returned from a short break by the sea. Every year, I take my nephews, children and grandchildren away to celebrate Christmas and birthdays together. One morning, as we walked along the beach, my nephew asked, “Where do waves come from?”

I opened my mouth to answer and then hesitated. As someone who lives by the sea, I thought I knew. Wind, tides, gravity…something like that. But as I tried to explain, the words slipped became harder to find. The question was simple, but the answer suddenly felt vast.

So we looked it up together. It turned out to be one of those small, perfect moments that remind you how much wonder hides in the ordinary. What struck me most wasn’t the science of it, but how easily a six-year-old could ask a question that stops an adult in their tracks.

Somewhere between school and work, we learn to avoid those questions. We trade curiosity for certainty. We prefer being right to being interested. If we lose our curiosity, we lose our creativity, which thrives on discovery. The moment you ask a real question, something shifts as new patterns of thought start to form.

Good leaders know how to ask questions that make people pause, tilt their heads, and say, “I’ve never thought about it like that.”

Together, my nephew and I learned that waves are caused by the wind pressing across the water and the tides pulling from below. I thanked him for the question and mentioned the famous  Albert Einstein quote, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” He smiled, then asked, “Who is Albert Einstein?”

The thread running through this week’s newsletter is asking better questions.

Enjoy,

Hugh

Go deeper:

• Curious Kids: why are there waves?

• Adam Grant and Brene Brown: great leaders ask great questions

• Curiosity made the cat more creative

• Why are we curious about some things and indifferent to others?

Notes:

#1 Waves can travel thousands of miles across oceans without losing energy. 

#2 People remember answers better when they discover them themselves, rather than being told. The brain loves the chase.

#3 Asking a well-crafted question in a group setting reduces defensiveness and encourages collaborative thinking.

OK Systems! - Inversion

➔ Systems and frameworks for thinking

Marie Kondo’s lessons aren’t only about tidying. They’re about how we choose what matters. At home and at work. When she steps into a house that’s overflowing, she doesn’t ask what can be thrown away. She asks what’s worth keeping.

That small inversion transforms the whole process. Instead of scanning for what’s broken or outdated, people notice what still has life in it. The energy shifts from guilt to excitement, from loss to choice.

Leaders face their own version of clutter. A product weighed down by too many features. A strategy that tries to be everything to everyone. A team with more priorities than time. The usual response is to gather everyone and ask, “What should we cut?” It sounds efficient, but it triggers defensiveness. Every project has an owner. Every idea has a champion. You end up protecting the past rather than shaping the future. 

The mathematician Carl Jacobi had a phrase for this way of thinking: “Invert, always invert.” When a problem feels unsolvable in one direction, turn it around.

So instead of asking what to remove, ask, “If we could only keep three things, which would genuinely excite people?” The shift is subtle but powerful. You’re no longer making subtractions; you’re curating value. The conversation becomes lighter, faster, and more honest.

Marie Kondo didn’t invent tidying, but for many, she reframed it. And that’s what the Inversion framework does for leadership. It takes a tired problem and makes it solvable again, not by finding what fails, but by recognising what still sparks something worth keeping.

Go deeper:

• Inversion and the power of avoiding stupidity 

• Why inversion thinking beats forward-thinking in complex environments

• James Clear: the crucial thinking skill no one ever taught you

Notes:

#1 Marie Kondo built a global consulting and media business worth millions of dollars from a tidying method she began as a side hustle at 19, built on one core question: “Does it spark joy?”

#2 Statistician Abraham Wald flipped the question from “where are the bullet holes on the planes that return?” to “where are the bullet holes on the planes that don’t return?”, leading to armour being added where returning planes weren’t hit.

#3 A 2023 paper on “thinking in opposites” argues that deliberately generating opposites is a productive route to more original ideas, especially once obvious solutions are exhausted.

OK Brain! - The Prefrontal Paradox Edition

➔ Lifting the lid on what’s happening inside our brains when we do creative work

In the front of your brain sits a small patch of tissue that tries to keep you in charge. The Prefrontal Cortex is where planning, control and decision-making live. It helps you weigh trade-offs, hold long-term goals in mind and resist impulsive choices. Without it, leading would be guesswork.

But the same region that allows you to take charge also makes it harder to stay curious. When the Prefrontal Cortex is dominant, the brain filters information through what it already knows. It prizes certainty over discovery. Confidence feels good, but it narrows perception.

Creative work needs the opposite state: open, flexible attention. To get there, the brain has to quiet its inner executive. When control relaxes, unexpected connections surface and creativity flourishes.

Questions are the simplest way to create that shift. A genuine question suspends certainty for a moment. It tells the brain to look again. In groups, it lowers hierarchy, signalling that exploration is safe. You can almost feel the collective prefrontal cortex unclench.

Skilled leaders don’t reach for ready-made questions; they design ones that reveal what they don’t yet know. A good question feels slightly uncomfortable. It widens the spotlight instead of narrowing it. You can sense it working when the room goes quiet for a moment before anyone answers.

The paradox is that the part of your brain designed for leadership becomes a better leader when it learns to let go. Authority strengthens not through having the answers, but through creating the conditions where better ones can appear.

Go deeper:

• Wikipedia: the Prefrontal Cortex

• Tim Brown: Why great leadership starts with better questions

• The 7 muses of neuro-creative cycle

Notes:

#1 The Prefrontal Cortex is sometimes called the “CEO of the brain” because it coordinates so many high-level functions.

#2 The Prefrontal Cortex can block curiosity if it feels too uncertain or risky, which is why leaders sometimes default to answers instead of questions.

#3 Dopamine spikes when we resolve a curiosity gap, which feels rewarding and encourages further exploration.

➔ Things to read, watch, listen, and buy

Why your brain needs rituals - Newsletter regular, Anne-Laure Le Cunff on why rituals serve psychological functions that go far beyond mere habit or tradition: “When people face stress, danger, or major life changes, rituals provide a sense of stability through structured actions…Shared routines make cooperation easier in times of stress. When a team huddles before a game, the action signals membership and commitment to the group.” (5 min read)

When instinct disguises itself as intuition - How to tell the difference between Instinct and intuition and why leaders need to.

Don’t ask people how they do something. Ask them how they think - Author and podcaster Shane Parrish shares advice on asking questions and his approach to preparing for each interview. (5 min watch)

A reverse brainstorm template - Reverse brainstorming flips problem-solving on its head. You brainstorm the worst possible solutions and then reverse them to find creative, effective ones. I’ve been running “Worst Idea EVER!” workshops since my early days at the BBC. Hit ‘reply’ if you’d like me to run one for your organisation. (tool)

Leadership and the art of asking questions - This is good from Warren Berger on why he likes ‘How might we?’ questions. “They’ve proven to be very effective over the years. Instead of saying ‘What should we do?’ or ‘How should we do it?’ you’re asking ‘How might we? How might we find a way?’” (5 min read)

Strategic questioning framework for success - A really useful piece that provides an essential framework for strategic inquiry. It includes a range of questioning approaches that help navigate business complexity and transform organisational culture. (8 min read)

The Big Think: 3 experts explain your brain’s creativity formula - David Eagleman, Scott Barry Kaufman and Tiago Forte explain the difference between intelligence and imagination, why we need a second brain and how our prefrontal cortex allows us to simulate ‘What if?’ scenarios. (3 min watch)

Putting a face to a name: the art of motivating employees - Could a five-minute conversation really boost your weekly productivity? Adam Grant thinks so. In his research across call centres, pharmacies, and even lifeguard teams, he’s found that when people see how their work positively affects others, they don’t just feel happier, they become significantly more productive. (6 min read)

What are you all reading/watching/listening to? Send me your links. I’d love to know what’s stretched your thinking recently.

The Rules - Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Rules of Emerging Photographers

➔ Rules for work, play, and life

This week, we sadly lost Martin Parr, the acclaimed British documentary photographer known for his hyper-realistic, colourful images. He shared his ten rules for emerging photographers in WePresent’s Manifesto series.

My favourite is number 8, which speaks to the thread of ‘questions’ that runs through today’s newsletter: “Get excited by what you have discovered.”

Bookshelf

If you like this sort of stuff ⬆ you’ll love these ⬇