How great questions will make you a better creative and team leader

If you know us, you must have realised by now that we love questions. Our cards are full of them. It's not a random decision; we genuinely believe questions are a great tool to open paths and inspire others.

Here is why; imagine a dark room where you can barely see anything because there is no light coming in. You try to explore it, but you have no clue where to go. In this situation, you need to some light to find your way out. Questions are like opening doors. You open them, take a sneak peek inside and see if there is any light coming from there. If there isn't any, you close it and look for the next one, until you find the right one.

This poetic metaphor help us describe what sometimes happens to creative teams (they feel lost in a dark room with no clue where to go) and what a good creative or team leader should do; ask smart questions (guide them to look for light by opening some doors).

Why questions better than answers? Well, first, it will make your team help to think by themselves. You'll build confidence on them, and make them feel useful. And secondly, it will take away the pressure from you, de-centralising the process and creating an inspirational leader figure instead of an authoritarian one.

Next time your team asks you for help, consider throwing some questions to them, instead of coming with the solution by yourself.

By the way, don't confuse asking questions with questioning :)