Why great thinkers ask divergent questions | Natalie Nixon
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Sep 29, 2025
Explore the art of asking the right questions with a creativity strategist who highlights how inquiry fuels innovation. Discover the 'Taxonomy of Questions,' which separates divergent questions that spark expansive thinking from convergent questions that offer tactical guidance. Learn to embrace being a 'clumsy student' to boost your confidence in inquiry. This journey encourages a balance of curiosity and creativity, crucial for thriving in an increasingly automated world.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Ask Different Questions To Get Different Results
Treat asking questions as a discipline to master if you want different outputs.
Change the types of questions you ask when you need different results.
insights INSIGHT
Pause To Rethink How You Think
Many people never pause to examine how they think, which prevents cultural and behavioral change.
Rethinking thinking is necessary to shift actions and innovate at work.
insights INSIGHT
Curiosity Comes From An Information Gap
Curiosity arises from noticing an information gap that makes you want to learn more.
Inquiry shifts thinking from certainty to exploring new, expansive questions.
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Natalie Nixon, a creativity strategist, emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions in order to foster innovation and creativity. She believes that inquiry and curiosity are crucial for driving innovation, as they can bridge information gaps and encourage expansive thinking.
Nixon introduces the "Taxonomy of Questions," which includes divergent questions ("Why?", "What if...?", "I wonder...?") that promote big picture thinking, and convergent questions ("What?", "Where?", "When?") that provide tactical guidance. To thrive in an ambiguous world, we need to balance both types of questions, embracing creativity as a uniquely human trait that sets us apart from technology and automation.
Nixon suggests becoming "clumsy students" of something new in order to build confidence in asking questions and seeking help. By practicing this discipline of inquiry, we can develop our ability to think differently and drive innovation.
0:00 Asking better questions
1:11 Inquire and be curious
1:47 Two types of questions: Divergent & convergent
2:30 Creative questions = surviving automation
3:39 How to practice better questions
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About Natalie Nixon:
Dr. Natalie Nixon is the Creativity Whisperer to the C-Suite, helping leaders achieve transformative business results by applying wonder, rigor, and foresight. A magnetic keynote speaker, Nixon shares why creativity is not a “nice to have” but a “must have” and leaves audiences with practical techniques to upgrade their organizational and individual creative capacity in the midst of ubiquitous technology and hybrid work environments — always with an eye on innovation and the future of work. Marketing guru Seth Godin has said that Nixon “can help you get unstuck and unlock the work you were born to do.”
As CEO & Creativity Strategist at Figure 8 Thinking, Nixon is a highly sought after global keynote speaker & advisor, author of the award-winning book The Creativity Leap and editor of Strategic Design Thinking. Real Leaders named her one of the "Top 50 Keynote Speakers in the World," and her clients have included Google, Salesforce, META, New Balance, and Deloitte. Profiles on Nixon as well as her writing have been featured in Forbes, INC, and Fast Company. She earned her B.A. From Vassar College and her Ph.D. From the University of Westminster in London.
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