With organizations of all sorts facing increased urgency and unpredictability, being able to ask smart questions has become key. But unlike lawyers, doctors, and psychologists, business professionals are not formally trained on what kinds of questions to ask when approaching a problem. They must learn as they go. In their research and consulting, the authors have seen that certain kinds of questions have gained resonance across the business world. In a three-year project they asked executives to brainstorm about the decisions they've faced and the kinds of inquiry they've pursued. In this article they share what they've learned and offer a practical framework for the five types of questions to ask during strategic decision-making: investigative, speculative, productive, interpretive, and subjective. By attending to each, leaders and teams can become more likely to cover all the areas that need to be explored, and they'll surface information and options they might otherwise have missed.

One of the biggest obstacles to effective problem-solving is not defining the problem well. Invoking the power of a? narrative and a simple story structure can help ensure that you're solving the right problem. The authors suggest that any problem can be articulated as a quest in which the key elements are hero (protagonist), dragon (obstacle), and treasure (the desired outcome). Expressing a challenge in these simple terms can make it easier to see whether a problem has been framed incorrectly.

In 2019, two fatal plane crashes plunged Boeing in an unprecedented crisis, setting off a maelstrom of controversy about Boeing's corporate practices and the safety of the 737 MAX - the recently redesigned version of its most successful commercial jetliner. Within weeks, the MAX was grounded worldwide, and Boeing faced financial, legal, regulatory and reputational pressures. All while under intense media scrutiny and heightened safety concerns from the flying public. And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit the aviation industry, escalating the crisis into an existential threat to Boeing's commercial aviation business. Amid this perfect storm, Boeing executives faced one key question: How to restore Boeing's reputation as a leading aircraft manufacturer?

In 2016, French car manufacturer Peugeot announced its will to return to the US, one of the most competitive market in the world. Peugeot had previously attempted to conquer the US, but that effort failed: In 1991, after having sold a grand total of 4,261 cars in the whole country the year before, Peugeot left the US and remained away for 25 years. Now eager to stage a successful comeback in a market that only got even more fiercely competitive and in the midst of rapid changes affecting the industry, Peugeot needed to first figure out how to overcome its key competitive weakness, namely its lack of a distribution network. For Peugeot's CEO, one question dominated all others: How should Peugeot fulfill its distribution needs in the US (defined as selling cars and providing maintenance), given that it did not have a distribution network?

Owing to its intangible nature and oligopolistic structure, the Media & Entertainment industry used to seem particularly difficulty to disrupt, and Disney was sitting right at the top. Yet, ten years after Netflix launched its online video streaming service, incumbents acknowledged that surviving the online revolution requires drastic changes. Until 2017, Disney had not taken the threat seriously. Its streaming strategy could be described as exploratory, at best: It had a 30% stake in Hulu, a third-party streaming platform jointly owned by media giants, and it sold its "old" content to Netflix. However, as Disney's cable partners (e.g., Comcast) started to lose millions of highly profitable subscribers, the company realized that its half-hearted approach to online streaming was a recipe for disaster. That year marked the turnaround of Disney's approach to streaming. First, it shocked the world in August, when it announced that it would gradually withdraw its movie content from Netflix. That same month, it revealed it had taken a controlling stake in BAMTech, a technology company providing streaming video technology. Finally, in December, it announced its intention to acquire 21st Century Fox in a deal that closed 15 months later, giving it a controlling stake in Hulu and greatly expanding Disney's already formidable content library. With the nomination of Kevin Mayer at the helm of DTCI in March 2018, Disney realized its intention to transition into a B2C company. However, it was going to be a long road for Mayer, who faced both external and internal challenges. The case explores Mayer's options to succeed in a rapidly evolving marketplace in which former partners and internet giants have become the competitors. It also examines how Mayer can position DTCI within Disney, addressing the complexities of collaborating with other business units and the potential cannibalization of the Media Networks division.