Dr Bob Tobin

I used to tell my students that  questions are more important than answers.  Anyone who writes down and memorizes facts can know a lot of answers.  Only the curious, the creative, the  interested,  know the best questions to ask.  When I consult to companies, I’m happy when they like my questions. The clients I work with are intelligent and they want to think, not just listen to advice.

You learn a lot about people by listening to the questions they ask. [I don't mean the guys in the supermarket who ask you, "paper or plastic?"]

At the end of a day of teaching, I’d feel energized.  I’d run in to a colleague in the elevator.  He’d always ask me, “aren’t you exhausted?’ No, I wasn’t but he was.

Another colleague wrote a best-selling novel and  sold the movie rights for the book for over a million dollars.  One night, I said,  ”let’s go out for Thai food after classes.”

His question was“is it expensive?”

Are you kidding me?  How expensive could it be?   The guy had a million dollars in the bank and considerable royalties coming in every month, plus his teaching salary.

Thankfully I don’t have many people like this in my life. Right now, I can’t think of one.  I know poverty is real for many people, but there is also  poverty of the mind.

Some very rich people have it too.