When Leaders Ask the Wrong Question

Executives rarely fail because they choose the wrong answer. They fail because they asked the wrong question.

The Challenger shuttle wasn’t lost because of poor math. It was lost because NASA asked, “Can you prove it’s unsafe to launch?” instead of, “Can you prove it’s safe?”

That same trap plays out in boardrooms daily. Leaders frame problems around convenience—“Which discount boosts sales fastest?”—while ignoring the harder truth: declining trust, broken systems, or eroded execution.

A perfect answer to the wrong question isn’t strategy. It’s acceleration toward disaster.