First find your question

Maru asked me in the morning if BWM-Ferrari is the fastest car in the world. Well, when it comes to cars I hold the record in knowing the least, but I do know that BMW and Ferrari are not the same brand. This said I didn't have much more to add -- except that it's certainly a GREAT QUESTION.

I'm honest with my kid -- if I don't know the answer, I tell him: "Google knows." And I save the day - together with my reputation - with a little Google search.

The ideal time to do this came today while sitting in a fish and chips restaurant and waiting for the -- fish and chips. With a little everyday-magic from Google we learned that the fastest car in the world is SSC Ultimate Aero that can develop a speed more than 415 km/h.

What happened then was my aha!-moment of the week. To host a decent conversation over the dinner I proposed a game: "Let's both ask a question about something we want to know. The one who has more questions is the winner."

And here's the aha! -- I realized that it's much harder to ask questions then to provide answers. That might seem a minor detail, but once you try the game you understand how HUGE impact it has on our lives.

You've been trained to answer, not to ask questions (at least I know I have). You feel a bit incompetent when you don't know the answer -- as if being on the spotlight back in school, grilled by a teacher in our least favorite subject. We're all pretty good in pretending we know, which also means that the effort that should go into focused learning goes pretty often in covering up our lacks.

Think about it -- what do you want to know? What's your question?

And then go for the answer. Not the other way around.

PS: You should try the game, it's fantastic.

PPS: Maru wanted to know how many people have been killed in wars, how many sharks are in the sea of Lithuania and who killed the chicken my mother kept a few years back. I wanted to know how to gain friends and influence people -- and I've already read the book. Bugger, what did I learn, actually?