Karim Abouelnaga

Over the course of my personal and professional life, I've come to appreciate one of the most powerful learning tools available to us: the question.

That's right, not the internet, not ChatGPT, or even your college professor. Nothing is more powerful than a thoughtful question.

In a day and age where everything is moving faster than ever, what if I told you that we need to slow down before we can speed up? Moving at the speed of light serves no one if you're moving in the wrong direction.

Back in 400 BC, Plato posited that the right question is usually more important than the right answer. Einstein once said if he had an hour to solve a problem, he'd spend the first 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions. Asking the right questions is a lot like identifying the right problem. The most effective teachers and coaches understood that their students and clients often had the answers or would retain the information better if they discovered them on their own.

But how do we get better at asking the right questions?

That's where The Learning Loop comes in. Each week, I'll ask you one thoughtfully curated, timely question. I'll share why the question is important and provide you with a short resource or two if they're relevant. That's when the real work begins. You'll read the question, bookmark it, write it down, and maybe even draft an initial response. Over the course of the week, you'll look back at the question, and with the help of your subconscious mind, thinking about it from the moment you read it, you'll have a fuller, deeper understanding of your answer.

By embarking on this journey with me, you're trusting me with your learning process. That is not something I take for granted. You can expect the questions to remain nonpartisan and non-judgmental. The questions will not be leading you to respond in one way or another. The only right answer is the answer you feel the most at peace with.

If the timing warrants, a question may repeat, or it may be a question you've asked and reflected on in the past. In those instances, I'd encourage you to see it as a new question. Heraclitus once said that "no man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river, and he's not the same man." While the question may appear to be the same, you're, in fact, a different person.

As the founder and CEO of an education organization, I have had the privilege of visiting hundreds of schools, studying decades of education history and pedagogical approaches, and receiving a world-class education from Cornell and Columbia University. I can attest firsthand not only to the importance of asking the right question but also to building the mental muscles to ask better questions. With greater clarity each week, you'll become a better student, a better teacher, a better manager, and, most importantly, a better you.

Lastly, the more you lean in, the more you'll get out. A question can put you on a journey towards discovering your life's purpose, repairing a broken relationship, having a breakthrough at work or home, or it can just be another question. If you find yourself unable to dedicate the time to reflect or the process of learning through questions is not for you, I'd encourage you to unsubscribe and consider revisiting later in your journey. My commitment to you is to provide you with a short read each week that gives you value. In exchange, I hope you'll pay it forward. 

Matthew 7:7 - 8