If there is one book I would recommend picking up in this era of rapidly evolving technology and AI, Change Your Questions, Change Your Life by Marilee Adams is one of them. And the timing of its fifth edition could not feel more fitting.
Twenty years after the first edition, Adams added a brand-new final chapter specifically addressing why Question Thinking is more relevant than ever. We are all currently navigating technology-driven change in our workplaces, in our culture, and deep in our personal lives. Amid all the noise and uncertainty that AI brings, this book offers a reminder of the irreplaceable value of human connection, and the power of the questions we ask ourselves every single day.
What Is Question Thinking?
Question Thinking is a system of skills and tools built around one simple but profound idea: our questions drive everything. The questions running through our minds shape our thoughts, fuel our feelings, influence how we interact with others, and determine the results we get. They literally program how we think and what outcomes become possible for us.
The method begins with self-observation. It asks us to slow down, pay attention to what we are thinking, and notice the internal questions steering us from the inside. From there, it guides us toward one of the most valuable mindset shifts in the book: choosing to be a learner rather than a judger.
Through this framework, including its signature tool the Choice Map and the practical exercises in the User’s Guide, readers build skills to refine the questions they ask of themselves, as well as of others, so those questions lead somewhere meaningful and productive.
A Self-Help Book That Actually Earns Your Trust
I tend to go into self-help books with a fair amount of skepticism. My inner critic loves to question whether a method actually works, or whether it just sounds good on paper.
Adams chose to deliver the concepts through a narrative format, a story with characters, conversations, and situations we can see ourselves in. This storytelling approach does something clever: it naturally surfaces the same doubts and questions a skeptical reader would have, and then answers them through the characters’ experiences. By the time the method is fully explained, you have already seen it work within the story. That is a fresh approach in the self-help genre, and it makes the whole thing far more convincing.
Why This Matters Even More in the Age of AI
Question Thinking was valuable before AI became a daily fixture in our lives. Now, I would argue it is essential.
AI has made it easier than ever to outsource our thinking. Instead of sitting with a problem, forming thoughtful questions, and working through them with curiosity and intention, we hand it all to a machine. We are not just unaware of Question Thinking as a practice, we are actively stepping away from the habit of deep, personal inquiry altogether.
That matters enormously. Our questions are not trivial. They shape the actions we take and the outcomes we can even imagine achieving. Letting go of that process entirely means letting go of something deeply human.
Adams’ new chapter takes this head-on. Change driven by technology is disruptive. That is unavoidable. But the disruption hits harder when we dismiss the very real reasons people resist it. When we approach change with thoughtfulness, creativity, and genuine curiosity, the process becomes smoother and the outcomes far better. This is a point worth raising loudly and often.
Change Your Questions, Change Your Life is an engaging and practical read. The fifth edition, in particular, feels urgently relevant as a reminder that in a world increasingly shaped by AI, learning to ask better questions is one of the most human things we can do.
Thank you to Berrett-Koehler Publishers for kindly sending me a review copy of Change Your Questions, Change Your Life.
Author: Marilee Adams
Publication date: 12 May 2026
Number of pages: 256 pages
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