People are often amazed by leaders like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk—leaders who seem to bend reality itself to their will. There’s even a phrase for it: the Reality Distortion Field (RDF). But what exactly makes this approach so powerful, and why does it seem to work where others fail?
Steve Jobs was famous for walking into rooms filled with skeptical engineers and walking out leaving a team convinced they could achieve something they’d previously considered impossible. Take the early days of the Macintosh. Jobs didn’t just demand excellence; he relentlessly questioned assumptions. When engineers argued that the boot-up sequence couldn’t possibly be faster, Jobs asked, repeatedly, “Why not? What if you had no choice?” By removing these implicit constraints, Jobs forced his team to find capabilities within themselves they didn’t know existed.
Elon Musk uses a similar strategy at SpaceX and Tesla. An engineer might say rockets can’t be reused, or batteries can’t be produced cheaply enough for mass-market electric cars. Musk responds: “Why not? What’s stopping us?” Behind these questions is Musk’s famous refrain: “Physics is the law, everything else is a recommendation.” Musk isn’t recklessly ignoring reality; he’s carefully distinguishing true limitations (physics) from assumptions masquerading as laws.
Both Jobs and Musk employ what philosophers call Socratic questioning. Yet people often misunderstand how it works. Merely repeating “Why not?” isn’t enough. Without genuine curiosity and a shared purpose, these questions quickly become annoying or, worse, insulting to the very experts whose cooperation you need. True Socratic questioning isn’t about cornering experts or challenging their authority for its own sake. It’s about refining knowledge and igniting deeper motivation through collaborative inquiry.
Effective Socratic questioning involves three critical ingredients:
First, being mission-driven is essential. This isn’t just a motivational slogan. A compelling mission provides context and direction, turning seemingly annoying questions into logical, necessary inquiries. Jobs wasn’t trying to torment engineers by demanding faster boot times; he was aligning every question with the mission of creating “computers for the rest of us.” Musk doesn’t insist on rocket reusability simply to frustrate his engineers; he does it to enable humanity’s future on Mars. The mission clarifies the intent behind the questions, transforming what might seem confrontational into collaborative exploration. When the leader says, “I’m asking this question to help us achieve our mission,” it reframes the dialogue from conflict to shared ambition.
Second, you must maintain genuine curiosity—a beginner’s mindset. This means asking questions to truly understand, not to prove you’re smarter. Jobs often asked questions about technical details because he genuinely wanted to understand them himself. Musk similarly spends significant time diving into the physics and engineering complexities alongside his teams. This genuine curiosity fosters trust and openness, turning skeptical engineers into collaborative partners.
Third, effective questioning leads the respondent to breakthroughs they feel are their own ideas. Psychologically, people are far more committed to ideas they believe they originated themselves. When a leader guides an expert toward a solution through insightful questioning, the expert feels personal ownership. This dramatically increases motivation and creativity compared to a scenario where solutions are handed down from above.
Of course, questions alone aren’t enough. Jobs didn’t just ask questions—he backed them with action, visibly investing resources into prototype development. Musk similarly puts immense personal risk and capital behind his questions. Actions demonstrate commitment far better than words alone, proving to teams that the questions aren’t idle or academic.
When used thoughtfully, Socratic questioning doesn’t just distort reality—it transforms it. It pushes teams beyond imagined limitations, empowering them to redefine what’s possible.
Distorting reality effectively isn’t about denying facts. It’s about clarifying them—distinguishing between immutable laws and human-made constraints. Steve Jobs and Elon Musk achieved greatness not by ignoring reality, but by persistently reframing their team’s perception of what reality actually allows. By changing the questions their teams asked, they changed the very nature of what their teams believed was achievable.