The Socratic Way

When I was in graduate school at UCLA, I had the very best professor and the very worst professor – in the same semester.

The worst professor was a very well-known business guru, complete with a best-selling business book. He would drill us with information that encompassed his view of the world. When it came to business, he told us exactly what to think, say and do. It was an exercise in intense reading and memorization. Each class was tough, intense and just frightening.

The other professor was quite different. He never told us what to think or do. Instead, he seemed to have great faith in our abilities to research, reason and act. He was just there here to facilitate the conversation.

In other words, he was Socratic. He would ask questions to stimulate rational thinking and to illuminate ideas, but it was no cake walk. He would play the devil’s advocate with our own ideas, challenging our thought and pointing out weak logic or reasoning. He would congratulate us when we reached an intelligent conclusion – something he probably already knew, but never let on. Each class brought a brain buzz, or what I called a “thinker’s high”.

When I went forward into the business world, I took this style of a Socratic approach along with me. Strategy 360 is 100% Socratic. We never tell anyone what to do or think, we believe that everyone has those answers within themselves. We are just there to lay out a clear framework, present various points of view, ask some clear questions and facilitate the process as people make the transition from conventional to strategic thinking. This is the Socratic way.