There will always be more questions than answers. That's what I've discovered about life. That's an uncomfortable fact for some people because our society wants answers. Clients want answers. We pour through data to formulate strategies so we can make recommendations. We give POV's. We're experts; answers are our business.
I just finished a book that's altered my state of mind about questions and answers. It's called Socrates Cafe, by Christopher Phillips. It's wonderful. Phillips left his profession as a freelance writer to embark upon a journey to bring philosophy to everyday people. He travels around the Country hosting "Socrates Cafes" -- informal jam sessions in coffee houses, schools, nursing homes and businesses. The point? To question. Anything and everything. Because philosophy, and life in general, is all about questions, according to Phillips:
"Questions, questions, questions. They disturb. They provoke. They exhilarate. They intimidate. They make you feel a little bit like you've at least temporarily lost your marbles. So much so that at times I'm positive that the ground is shaking and shifting under our feet. But not from an earthquake. Welcome to Socrates Cafe."
But why Socrates? Phillips explains:
"For a long time, I'd had a notion that the demise of a certain type of philosophy has been to the detriment of our society. It is a type of philosophy that Socrates and other philosophers practiced in Athens in the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. A type that utilized a method of philosophical inquiry that 'everyman' and 'everywoman' could embrace and take for his or her own, and in the process rekindle the childlike-- but by no means childish -- sense of wonder...A type of anti-guru philosophy in which the person leading the discussion always learns much more for the other participants than they could ever learn from him. A type of philosophy that recognized that questions often reveal more about us and the world around us than answers. A type of philosophy in which questions often are the answers."
Beautiful. I didn't just read this book, I devoured it. I've always been a questioner. But the more experienced I've become, the fewer questions I've asked. Because people come to me for answers, not questions. But having the answers isn't having wisdom. Asking the right questions is wisdom. Conversing, not dictating, is wisdom. And as Phillips says, "the way people go about conversing is every bit as critical as their ability to converse freely."
The book is full of wisdom, much of it not from Phillips himself, but the everyday people he portrays in the descriptions of his experiences with Socrates Cafes all over the country and his numerous quotations from great philosophers throughout the ages.
The original Hellenistic Greek word for philosophy, philosophia, means "love of wisdom." I thought to myself, "What if we had an agency full of philosophers?" Wouldn't that make us more creative? Wouldn't we ask better questions, and therefore, find better solutions to clients' problems? Wouldn't we provide better client service because we'd be better listeners? The book made me question (ha!) the way I approach my profession. We simply must ask more questions!
Phillips said, "For a long time, the question has suffered at our hands. It isn't just that many of us fear questions. Rather, many of us seem to have only the flimsiest idea of the question's power and potential. An many of us no longer seem to have the faintest idea how to use it."
Amen.
He continues, "It'll come as no surprise that I think one of the most fruitful ways for steeling us to take the jump is the Socratic Method. It enables us to bring into better focus, and then to resolve, our perplexities. Not once and for all, to be sure, because new perplexities always present themselves. But in a way that can make us more knowledgeable and at the same time more empathetic and insightful -- more virtuous, Socrates might say."
I added the emphasis above because in my humble opinion, these two traits may be the most important traits of our profession and are all too often laking in our professionals.
I urge you to read this book, whether you're in marketing or not, or at least check out Phillips' website.
Technorati Tags: Philosophy, Socrates, Christopher Phillips, Public Relations, Marketing
