Michael Amin, Founder of Maximum Difference Foundation, Reveals Some Answers About the Power of Questions

There is no shortage of materials claiming to hold the keys to improving your parenting style, your personal and professional relationships, or your leadership abilities. In fact, the sheer number of self-help books, YouTube videos, and motivational seminars on these subjects long ago surpassed the status of a cottage industry to reach mass market saturation. Some of these materials contain reassuring affirmations, some celebrity anecdotes, and some have step-by-step instructions for building a transformative life plan, but all of them promise answers.

But what if I told you that looking for answers isn’t the answer? What if I told you that the solutions people seek are not in answers, but in questions?

It may sound like I’m speaking in riddles, but there’s a long legacy of respected scientists, deep thinkers, and observers of the human condition who have held this to be true. Socrates was famous for constantly asking questions to find the truth. This provided the intellectual basis for his eponymous method, which in turn influenced the creation of the scientific method some two millennia later. Reinforcing this, one of the most famous quotes attributed to him is simply, “Let the questions be the curriculum!”

And Socrates isn’t alone. Noted historical figures from Voltaire to Indira Gandhi to Albert Einstein expressed similar feelings, each affirming that inquiry, more than certainty, is the true engine of understanding.

“Asking great questions is as old as human curiosity itself,” says Michael Amin, founder and driving force behind Maximum Difference Foundation (MDF), a California charity.

Amin launched MDF in 2001 to create the largest possible positive change in the charitable sphere through the application of return-on-investment principles popularized in the private sector. “Questions are how we express wonder, agency, and learn about the world around us. So, it follows that questions are the main instrument we use to grow as people. As such, the power of questions can be harnessed for improvement in areas of life as diverse as parenting, relationships, and leadership.”

There is a considerable amount of scientific research bearing this out, perhaps most prominently with how parents can raise their kids more effectively by applying the awesome power of questions.

Parenting

According to a landmark study conducted by Michelle M. Chouinard, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Merced, titled “Children’s Questions: a Mechanism for Cognitive Development,” small children learn more deeply when they’re encouraged to ask questions – especially when those questions focus on what they don’t yet understand. In fact, the study proposes that question-asking is an efficient and targeted strategy children use to gather information exactly when they need it, resulting in deeper processing and meaningful changes in their knowledge state. Further to that point, an academic paper titled “Effects of Explanation on Children’s Question Asking” found that children who are prompted to explain what they observe, especially older children, ask more effective, generalizable questions and complete learning tasks more efficiently.

“Smart kids don’t obsess over what they already know—they focus on what they don’t know,” says Michael Amin. “That’s not a weakness, that’s a growth zone. Parents should celebrate curiosity, not correct it. It’s one of the most powerful tools a child can develop.” He adds, “When kids see that their questions are welcomed—when parents model uncertainty and show that it’s okay not to know everything—they learn to love the process of finding out. That’s where real growth happens.”

Relationships

Psychologists like Arthur Aron have long studied the connection between vulnerability and bonding. His famous “36 Questions That Lead to Love” experiment showed that mutual questioning between two people engenders closeness and empathy much more effectively than shared facts or shallow, surface-level conversation.

Regarding professional relationships, there is also some research indicating that asking questions is one of the best ways to build rapport, increase likability, and foster harmony in the workplace. A study led by Alison Wood Brooks at Harvard Business School titled “It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask: Question-Asking Increases Liking”—summarized by Harvard here—found that people who ask more questions, and particularly follow-up questions, are consistently rated as more engaging and socially attuned by their colleagues and co-workers.

“Too often in relationships—whether romantic, platonic, or professional—we assume understanding rather than earn it,” says Michael Amin. “Asking thoughtful, honest questions opens up space for listening, reflection, and real connection. It shows you care not just about having a relationship, but about building one. When you ask your partner, your friend, your co-worker or your neighbor real questions and genuinely listen to their answers, you’re working to create a deeper kind of trust. That’s not fluff. That’s the foundation of strong relationships.”

Leadership

There is a piece of conventional wisdom about leadership that goes something like this: “Real leaders don’t ask, they tell!” Unfortunately, this could not be further from the truth. “The idea that a leader is someone who sits around all day passing out answers to his underlings is a product of an era of different values,” says Michael Amin. “But someone like that is not a leader – they’re likely just in love with the sound of their own voice.”

Amin believes that true leadership is achieved through practicing active inquiry, being humble, and seeking out engagement. “The best leaders I know don’t assume they have all the answers. They ask better questions, they listen longer, speak last, and they create environments where people are empowered to contribute their ideas. Speaking last means listening to others’ ideas and opinions and asking questions before you offer your own input.”

This is backed up by a 2018 report from the Harvard Business Review titled “The Leader’s Guide to Corporate Culture”. In the report, the authors state that companies with “question-friendly” cultures consistently outperformed those with more top-down, answer-driven management styles. This is because these organizations encourage open dialogue and empower employees at all levels to challenge assumptions and contribute ideas, which in turn enhances innovation and agility.

“Leaders who ask questions and encourage their employees to do so as well create cultures where people feel valued and motivated to engage deeply with their work. That leads to better decision-making and stronger organizational performance. And I do try to practice what I preach,” says Amin. “That’s the way I run my foundation, and I’ve found that it yields tremendous results.”

At Maximum Difference Foundation, Michael Amin and his team call the metric they use to measure their success “units of positive change,” and they have a standing dictum of striving to make the biggest possible impact while using the fewest possible resources. MDF aims to inspire parents, as well as people from all walks of life, to take the initiative themselves—to learn, to reflect, and to apply more effective parenting strategies. In doing so, MDF advocates for people to educate themselves by reading books and articles, attending seminars, watching videos, and when necessary, consulting a therapist. The foundation also donates to organizations like Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Human Rights Watch and others—all in the name of making the maximum difference.

In summary, it’s easy to overlook the quiet but transformative power of questions, especially in an age as frenetic and overstimulated as our current one. But as thinkers from Socrates to Einstein have known throughout the ages—and as Michael Amin reminds us today—asking questions doesn’t just make us smarter, it makes us more empathetic, more connected, and more human.

So, no matter if you’re raising a young child, trying to grow an important new relationship or rekindle an old one, or leading a team at an office, the questions you ask probably matter much more than the answers you dispense. Because questions aren’t the opposite of answers, they’re where answers begin.