The Importance of Asking the Right Question

Southern New Hampshire University Commencement Speech Clayton M. Christensen May 19, 2009

I. What was presented? Above article tells us that more than trying to know the right answer to a given question, it is as well vital for us to actually arrive at the right question for a given situation. To further understand the rationale behind the importance of asking the right question, the speaker took his conversation with a Marxist economist friend from China as an example. Their topic was actually broad and complex, and it was actually about democracy and capitalism. The speaker, in his conversation with his Chinese friend tells us that when we talk about democracy and capitalism, we cannot undermine the fact that the existence of such actually depends on religion. The speaker narrated that democracy works because most people most of the time voluntarily obey the laws, while capitalism works because we are taught in our Churches that we should keep our promises and not tell lies. When we are small, we were being taught that we should voluntarily obey the law, that we should respect other peoples properties, and not steal them. We were taught never to lie, and respect the rights and freedom of others the same as your own. We followed this rule because we had come to believe that even if the police wont catch us when we broke a law, God would watch us. Such beliefs actually enable democracy as well as capitalism to flourish. During the course of their conversation, Mr. Christensen arrive at a certain concern that as religion loses its power over the Americans, what will happen to their democracy? To their prosperity? But his Chinese friends insights help him understand what the valuable questions really are: Because democracy is possible only when most people most of the time voluntarily obey the laws, what institutions can we rely upon to inculcate this instinct amongst the American people? And how can we strengthen this institutions, so that they do this better?, or in the case of capitalism: Because capitalism and the prosperity it brings are possible only when there is a near-universal voluntary obedience to the laws, what institutions can we rely upon to inculcate this instinct amongst the people? And how can we strengthen the institutions that teach these things, so that they do it better? I believe it is through arriving at the right question that we can properly arrive at the right answer and act on it accordingly. II. What are the implications? Said article tells us of the importance of asking the right question. In a way, it allows us to identify which series of problem we are going to solve in order to address or solve a main concern. In mathematics, it is like choosing a certain solution for a given problem in order to find x. For example in statistics we were taught about finding the probabilistic and/or the deterministic solution. But in this case, I believe it would be more of finding the deterministic solution that would actually determine - what should be taken consideration in a given situation? Understanding the importance of asking the right question would mean digging deeper, locating the epicenter of an earthquake. III. How are these to be applied? I believe one way of applying this is through first understanding our present status right now where are we in our lifes journey? What do we have that we can use in facing all the challenges? Who can we rely on? For the above article, I have come up with this realization as the head of the family, Since my familys survival depends largely on what am I doing to earn a living, what should I do in order to further stabilized and even increase our source of living? What could be my unutilized skills that can still be of great help?