Facebook Questions. Is this the biggest thing in our (IT) lives?

The launch of the beta version of Facebook’s Questions sees a paradigm shift in the potential for true global knowledge exchange and innovative collaboration.


Facebook has now overtaken Google as the most visited web site Google, and as such is probably the biggest single untapped repository of knowledge in the world. It carries within it billions of fragments of information, reviews, opinions and small snippets that the Google bots just can’t simply access. Questions, in theory, provides a method of tapping into that tumult of ideas and gives direct access to potential customers, partners, stakeholders and just passers by in numbers and in targeted segments, demographic or geographic, that has been previously undreamed of. You will, if they get it right, have the ability to ask anyone who can fog up a mirror what they really want from your product, service or business ethics.


Watch this space. I believe that this could be the biggest and most significant single event in our lives since Sir Tim Berners Lee woke up that morning in Switzerland with his idea for sharing knowledge.

But- like any truly ‘Beautiful Question’, sometimes we may not get the answers we like or expect.

In the land of the headcahe.... Where does it hurt?

In the land of the headache the man with the aspirin is king.

Those of you who know me, been at one of my workshops or met me on an airplane somewhere, will know that this is one of the several phrases I use continually - they would probably say incessantly. It’s been at the centre of all the innovation projects I’ve worked on over the years and my mantra. The answer to the question that leads from this, what is their, and by their I mean customer/colleague/supplier/, biggest headache, opens up a world of opportunity for innovation and creativity. You can refine it further it lots of ways but esentially we are interested in figuring out what is their nagging headache, that just annoys. Not so much the migraine with the flashing lights and spinning rooms but their day to day pains and aggravations.

It’s one of my favourite beautiful questions because it makes us focus at exactly the right point and view ourselves and the world through the customer or user’s spectacles. It’s a metaphor which everyone gets, so everyone can join in the process.

The point to remember is that it doesn’t focus on customer complaints, just their mild annoyances. You don’t always have to strive for world class practices, just eliminate worst practices to have a beautiful company product or service.

If you are looking for real life examples look at the differences between Sky and British Telecom in the UK. Two behemoths in the comms field yet perceived in two different ways, largely because of one simple thing. The letters they send to their clients. Sky write warmly, lucidly, clearly, using language we love that engages me, as it is real and relevant. BT?.. well words fail me, which is rare. It’s a small thing but a very big thing - one that makes all the difference. Especially when excellent customer service is no longer a differentiator; these days that comes as standard or you are history.

If they have a headache then that’s absolutely brilliant news for you - as that is the opportunity presented for innovation to differentiate you from the competition. It may be aspirin, ibuprofen or a gentle neck massage that cures it. That’s up to you to figure out.

So what are the other beautiful questions?

Glad you asked. If you want my top 100 Beautiful Questions for Innovation drop me a mail at barryrainmaker@mac.com or put me into your RSS reader. That was no 1 by the way.

The power of questions

There is nothing more powerful than a question

There is nothing more powerful than a question.

A question can ENABLE learning.
A question can PREDICT the future.
A question can EXPLODE people’s brains.
A question can CRACK open a new world.
A question can ENLIST your creativity.
A question can SEND you off to the races.
A question can CUT deeply, yet playfully.
A question can VISUALISE ideal conditions.
A question can EMPOWER others to turn inward.
A question can FORCE you to confront yourself.
A question can FUNCTION as that little nudge, push, tipping point or last straw you needed.

In my experience as an innovation manager, speaker, coach and new product developer, the most important moments in my career have revolved around asking myself specific, profound questions.

Questions that shifted my paradigm.
Questions that changed my business model.
Questions that doubled and tripled my and my company's annual income.
Questions that will take on down the road less traveled.

In the coming posts I'll share with you the the questions that I think are the most important, so set up your feed, book mark and please just pay it forward.

Take care out there

Beautiful Questions for Innovation NO 98

Beautiful Questions 98


What do I not want to do? What do I want to avoid doing?

Ask these questions rather than "What do I want to do? " or "What do I want this product, service or process to do?"