Executive management teams insist that a key value advisory boards offer is asking the right questions to guide thinking and prevent missteps. Consultants provide their clients the same service. They go into an organization, observe the situation, listen to plans, analyze data, and ask questions. Their value most often lies not in the answers they provide but in the questions they ask.

Inventors stumble upon new processes and new products because they are curious and continually ask others or themselves provocative questions--and then go discover or develop the answers.

Through the decades, strategic thinkers have asked questions like these:

*  Why do we need a person to operate this equipment? Can we automate this process?

* How could we stop providing this service to our clients and still charge the same overall fee?

*  Would customers prefer to serve themselves rather than pay extra for service?

*  Would people pay a premium fee for personalized service? If so, how do we personalize ours?

*  Will individuals auction, buy, and sell expensive second-hand items online without examining the items firsthand?

*  Why would people read novels from a screen?

*  Why would people spend real dollars on an imaginary plot of ground in cyberspace?

The more provocative your question, generally the stronger others consider your presence and your contribution to the outcome.