Amanda Chandler, the 300th person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has a very important question she asks as part of her job – ‘Why?’

Amanda is head of risk for a pet insurance company, a role that involves providing oversight of the company’s operational processes, to make sure they’re done in a way that manages the company’s risk exposure.

Hence that important question – ‘Why?’ And two other important questions – ‘What?’ and ‘How?’

Amanda needs to understand what risks impact the business processes managed by internal teams and ensure they have appropriate controls to manage them.

Amanda is a curious person by nature, so these questions come naturally.

As we discussed during our lunch, asking questions isn’t just a vital part of risk management; it’s also important if you want to become more self-aware, develop a better understanding of human behaviour and make more informed decisions. 

After all, the quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions you ask.

I share Amanda’s hunger for asking questions and being open to new information – which explains why two perfect strangers decided to have lunch together.