The Most Powerful Tool I Bring? The Question.
By Sheri Roder
“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.” — Eugène Ionesco
Across a career spanning insights, marketing, new product development, advisory work, and internal transformation, I’ve come to realize one truth: the most powerful tool I bring to any room isn’t the answer—it’s the question.
Not just a smart or strategic question, but the kind that cuts through complexity, pauses a conversation, reframes a problem, and makes people lean in and rethink what they thought they knew.
Whether working with a brand in search of its identity, a leader grappling with decision fatigue, or a marketing strategy in search of an effective executional plan, real movement rarely begins with a solution. It begins with a sharper lens. And that starts with the right question.
Whether at agencies like J. Walter Thompson, Saatchi & Saatchi, Horizon Media or at clients like Pepsi and Diageo, I’ve seen firsthand how real innovation doesn’t begin with certainty—it begins with better questions.
Questions like:
What if you’re in a different business than you think you are?
What if the problem you’re solving isn’t the real one?
What happens if you do nothing?
What else might be true?
These aren’t theoretical; they’re practical shifts in perspective. In a world overwhelmed by data, feedback, frameworks, and forecasts, the most valuable contribution you can make is to see differently, and help others do the same.
This principle held true when I co-founded LIMITLESS, a leadership platform at Horizon Media. It wasn’t created in response to a formal mandate but was born from an unasked question: Why don’t we have systems in place to support and prepare the next generation of female executives? That absence was telling, so we built something to fill it.
LIMITLESS helped women across the agency reclaim their voice, step into their power, and lead with intention. It became a transformational experience for many—and it all started with a question no one had asked out loud.
The power of a well-crafted question is supported by research. Hal Gregersen, Executive Director of the MIT Leadership Center, emphasizes that the most innovative leaders are exceptional at asking catalytic questions: those that transform the status quo into something new and meaningful. Similarly, Warren Berger, in A More Beautiful Question, outlines a “Why/What if/How” approach to questioning that unlocks greater creativity and innovative thought.
With the advent of AI, I sometimes wonder if the art of asking the unasked—or the uncomfortable—question is being overlooked. After all, we now have tools that can analyze complexity, surface patterns, and generate entire strategy decks. It’s true… AI can do a lot with data. What it can’t do—at least not with insight or intent—is decide which questions are worth asking in the first place. That’s still human work. And in many ways, it’s more urgent than ever.
Use AI to help explore the unimaginable. Be the one who dares to ask it. Let the machine show you what’s possible—but let you define what matters. Use that output as the jumping-off point for a handful of sharp, curious humans. Because the human brain—especially when connected to other human brains—is still better at spotting the unexpected, the emotional, and the truly original.
Today, as we navigate a landscape of constant noise and narrowing attention, the skill of asking precisely, listening fully, and seeing clearly is more critical than ever. Insight, strategy, leadership, innovation—all of them are downstream of inquiry.
Whether you’re repositioning a brand, rethinking a campaign, or reimagining your own next chapter, the differentiator isn’t always having the answer first. It’s having the nerve and clarity to ask what others haven’t yet.
I believe in frameworks. I believe in instinct. I believe in synthesis. But more than anything, I believe in the momentum a well-timed, well-aimed question can unlock.
Because sometimes, the real breakthrough isn’t what you say. It’s what you ask.
References
Gregersen, H. (2018). Asking the questions that unlock innovation. MIT News. Retrieved from MIT Berger, W. (2018). How Asking Powerful Questions Can Lead to Strategic Outcomes. Fisher College of Business. Retrieved from Fisher OSU
