Recently I sat in a classroom where high school students were presenting a group project. They had just read Julius Caesar and were comparing some of the main themes with other historical themes that have transpired in our world. I was excited to see students standing in front of the classroom not only bringing a classic text to life but using the components of a Portrait of a Graduate: effective communicator, critical thinking, academically prepared (to name a few), as vessels for sharing their ideas.

In a world where technology and artificial intelligence are evolving so quickly, human connection and the ability to communicate, connect, and collaborate with others has never been more important. In fact, the World Economic Forum has noted that the most in-demand skills in the future workforce will continue to be human skills such as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking, skills that cannot be automated.

I watched students who are still developing their public speaking and presentation skills have the courage to stand up and share their thinking. But what stood out to me the most was thinking about how the teacher intentionally created the conditions for this opportunity. The assignment wasn’t simply about presenting. It was about learning how to communicate ideas, listen to others, and reflect on ways to improve.

The teacher and I later talked about how students could deepen their presentation skills by studying speeches and TED Talks, while also analyzing what effective presentations look like visually. It was a meaningful conversation. We also discussed how important it was that students had the opportunity to provide feedback to one another.

One idea we explored was having students write feedback on cards, naming a strength in the presentation and offering one piece of advice to help elevate it further. The presenters would then review the feedback and choose one or two ideas they wanted to implement to strengthen their work. The following day, they would return to the class and share which advice they chose and how they used it to revise their presentation.

In many ways, the process invites students to consider one simple question: And what else?

So what does this mean for our students in the classroom? Providing students with options in how they learn may actually help them make better decisions about their learning.

In the book I’m currently reading titled, The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever,  Michael Bungay Stanier reminds us that “the first answer someone gives you is almost never the only answer, and it’s rarely the best answer.” It sounds obvious, but we often accept the first idea that comes to mind.

Stanier points to research highlighted in Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Their work draws on a study of 168 organizational decisions conducted by Paul Nutt. What they found was striking. In 71 percent of cases, decisions were framed as a simple binary choice: Should we do this or not? Those binary decisions failed more than half the time.

But when decision makers added even one more option, should we do this, this, or not, the failure rate dropped dramatically to around 30 percent.

In other words, better decisions often begin with a simple question.

And what else?

Reading this made me think about the students, educators, and leaders in our schools. The choices we create in learning environments shape the way people learn to make decisions.

When we create opportunities for students to receive feedback, explore multiple ideas, and reflect on different possibilities for improving their work, they begin to practice something far bigger than revising a presentation. They are learning how to think through options, weigh ideas, and make thoughtful decisions about how they grow.

In my book, The Leader Inside: Stories of Mentorship to Inspire the Leader Within, I wrote, “The heartbeat of education lives inside the walls of schools. Within those walls you can find stories of kids and teachers in the mess of learning.”

Perhaps part of that mess of learning is helping others realize that the first answer is not always the best one. Growth often happens when we pause, consider another possibility, and ask one more question.

And perhaps that is one of the most important skills we can help them develop for the world they are entering.