“What is your idea?”

She was excellent at research.

She could connect ideas, improve other people’s thinking and make complex things clearer.

People valued her for it.

But there was a ceiling hidden inside that strength.

She was very good at helping other people author their thinking.

Less practised at putting her own flag in the ground.

At one point I asked:

“What is your idea?”

Not:

“What have you found?”

Not:

“What do others think?”

Not:

“How can you help?”

Her idea.

That question became surprisingly important.

The work that followed was not about becoming louder.

It was about becoming more authored.