Little kids ask the questions adults stopped asking. Listening to them is like getting a fresh pair of eyes for free.

Children have not yet learned which questions are embarrassing, which is why they ask the ones that go straight to the bottom of things. Adults stop, not because the questions got answered but because asking them began to look naive. A simple question is frequently the hardest one in the room. You lose access to it by deciding you should already know.

Let a child’s question sit rather than brushing it off, and try to answer honestly. Notice the ones you cannot answer. Borrow the habit occasionally and ask the obvious thing nobody in the meeting will say.