His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, narrates in his book “Life Taught Me” an inspiring story about the early days of establishing Emirates Airlines, the world’s largest international airline, and how its success became a key component of Dubai’s economic boom over decades. He reveals the secret behind a well-timed, correctly framed question that opened the door to global excellence and distinction.

Under the title “The Question,” His Highness discusses in his book, which summarizes his leadership philosophy spanning nearly sixty years of national service, the launch of Emirates Airlines in the mid-1980s, saying: “At the beginning of establishing Emirates Airlines, and during its early days, our meetings were constant and intensive. One meeting started with an important question: How can the company succeed in the coming years?

A Different Question to Enhance Dubai’s Success

His Highness explained that he asked those present to rephrase the question to: How can the company contribute to enhancing Dubai’s success? Because the answer to each question would be completely different, and the launch would take a different direction.

He clarified that the answer to the first question would focus on increasing the company’s destinations, reducing competitors through protection, increasing the company’s share within Dubai Airport, and benefiting from the emirate’s economic activity to increase its share of international travelers.

He pointed out that the answer to the second question, about the company’s contribution to Dubai’s success, would focus on attracting new airlines to Dubai Airport by changing government policies, using the company to market Dubai tourism in new destinations, boosting the emirate’s economic activity by inviting international transit passengers to enter and experience its facilities, among other answers that serve Dubai and not just the company.

The Right Question Defines Priorities

Here, His Highness highlights the importance of formulating the right question to change reality and shape the future, explaining: “The right question creates the framework of thinking you want in the team, defines priorities, directs attention, and stimulates deep understanding of what we want and how to achieve it. The question can also build or destroy trust within the team.”

Correct questions also determine leaders’ success in achieving goals. He distinguishes between two types: a leader who asks why a policy failed, opening the door to accusation and blame, and another who asks where the flaw in the policy is and how to avoid it in the future, opening the door to improvement and development.

The Question is the Beginning of Wisdom

His Highness says: “One can judge a leader’s intelligence and wisdom by the questions he asks. They say the question is the beginning of wisdom, and I say the question is also the key to development.”

To achieve global excellence and superiority, he says: “Do not ask how to compete with or surpass a certain city or company, because that puts you in a narrow horizon and an incorrect framework. The question is how to invest my resources and capabilities to be distinguished, superior, and unique globally.”

Competition for Integration and Cooperation

He explains the importance of this question, noting that the goal is not to defeat a competitor or build alliances against them and make decisions to undermine them, but rather to integrate with everyone and cooperate with all to utilize the advantages and resources one has to achieve the highest goals and ambitions.

He mentions that at the beginning of his federal government leadership, many questions revolved around improving services and closing gaps, so he posed a different question: How can each ministry be the first globally in one of its performance indicators?

UAE Leads Globally in 260 Development Indicators

Because of this different question, perspectives changed, horizons expanded, the ceiling rose, and the sense of challenge increased until today the UAE government leads internationally in more than 260 development indicators according to global reports.

His Highness continues: “There is nothing stronger than the right question at the right time. Entire sciences were built on one question, like philosophy which was built on ‘why,’ physics on ‘what are the laws of nature?’ and psychology which tried to answer ‘how do we understand the human psyche?’

He highlights the importance of the famous question by Isaac Newton: Why does the apple fall downwards and not upwards? A question that changed our understanding of the universe and sparked a scientific revolution whose full boundaries we have yet to reach, after discovering one of the universe’s most important forces: gravity.

Human Creativity is Based on Questioning

His Highness links creativity to asking the right questions, explaining that every human invention is based on inquiry, and every human creativity is also based on curiosity and questioning. The true leader is not the one who rushes to answers but the one who seeks the right question because finding the right question is half the answer.

The right question is also the best tool for development, the best way to instill trust in the team, and the fastest way to learn and deeply understand. You can judge a person’s intelligence by the quality of their questions and their wisdom by their restraint in answering, as great minds ponder questions while small minds rush to give superficial answers.

Correct questions are keys to power, as His Highness says: “Life has taught me that wisdom requires more questions than answers, because questions are the beginning of curiosity that leads to knowledge, and knowledge is the key to power.”