100 Questions

Last September Dropping Knowledge brought together 112 leading thinkers from 56 countries to respond to the top 100 questions posed by individuals from around the globe. The questions and answers are posted on the organization’s website (www.droppingknowledge.org).

What question would you pose? One I have is why do we continue to do what we know does not work? I continually hear people complain about their jobs, their organizations, their relationships. Yet when asked what they will do to change the situation, the answer I usually hear is that nothing can be done. Then I hear all the rationalizations explaining why change cannot happen. As I heard one speaker say, to rationalize is to perpetuate “rational lies.”

It is not that changes cannot be made; it is that we won’t make the needed changes. It is easier and safer to stay with what we know even when it doesn’t work than to exert the effort and take the risk of creating something different.

Why won’t we change what we know doesn’t work? I say the primary reason is fear. Change requires courage, commitment, and community. The leader is that individual who is willing to step forward with a vision and to provide the support and create the community needed to facilitate change. Change can happen if we work together.

So, what question would you pose to the world?