And did you ever ask. In 2006, this column received close to 10,000 emails from around the world, with questions ranging from the likes of "Should I take a job at McKinsey or start a company doing something I really like?" to "Will the Chinese ever revalue their currency to reflect its real strength?"

But if the breadth of questions surprised us, the impassioned reaction to some of our answers surprised us even more. Yes, some columns came and went without much noise.

But many - four in particular - sparked sound and fury. And so, before we launch into another year of Q&As, let's look back at the tallest lightning rods of the past year.

First, our column about women in leadership made the case that the relatively small number of female CEOs was not, generally speaking, the result of a cabal of sexist male executives. We said it should be chalked up to biology or, to put it more bluntly, babies. Not that working mothers can't function.

Many never miss a beat. But plenty of others intentionally remove themselves from the corporate escalator to spend more time at home.

Given that, we said, there's no villain in this situation. There's only the reality that sometimes life requires tough choices. And with those choices comes an acceptance of the personal or career consequences.

But not if you're a man, many readers quickly retorted. In fact, a fair number of the emails about this column argued that there would be more female CEOs if husbands simply shared child-rearing responsibilities. Still others asserted that the problem lies not with errant husbands but with the male power establishment, which persists in valuing exactly what working mothers are most hard-pressed to deliver: availability.

"The system is rigged against women, " one reader wrote. "You let it off too easy."

Emotions also ran high regarding our column in which a reader asked why, in his long career, he had never encountered a manager he could respect. Our reply:

Maybe you are just one of those die-hards who constitutionally hate people in positions of authority.

Within hours, our mailbox was filled with thankyou notes, mainly from managers who had struggled with "boss haters" and were relieved to hear that the ire directed toward them was more ideological than personal.

We also heard from people who identified themselves as "reformed" boss haters. As one reader said" "I (secretly) criticised management until I was made a manager myself. . .

and I realised most everything they did made sense in context."

Still, the bulk of response to this column came from readers who basically said, "You must live in a bubble.

Most managers are selfserving, incompetent idiots and your so-called boss haters are the only ones out there with the guts to say so".

We were also accused of living in a fantasy world by the majority of respondents to our column about human resources. Yes, HR has its proponents. Some even wrote in to support our assertion that HR should play an active and vital role in building great teams.

But most of our mail sounded like the letter from the CEO of a small company in New York who wrote, "Where are these insightful, savvy, talented HR people you refer to? I'd have them at the table, making decisions with the CFO and me, if they existed. The truth is, most HR people are only capable of filling out benefits forms and running picnics. That's why they're marginalised".

But nothing, in terms of volume and intensity, compared to the response to our column about the giant retailer, Wal-Mart. At first, we were stunned to see how many people - about 80% - agreed with us that WalMart does more good for the US economy and society than most government institutions.

But after a few days, the tone changed, and you would have thought we'd called for the canonisation of Osama Bin Laden. Hostile messages accused us of hating labour, poor people and small business. One reader wrote:

"Wal-Mart destroys freedom and the American dream.

What were you thinking?"

Well, not that!

But all year long we were thinking, "Isn't this great?"

Every heartfelt question we've received and every passionate response to our answers didn't just help us to crystallise our own views.

Each helped us to discover more about what excited - and incited - businesspeople in 2006.

Will 2007 bring more of the same or a whole new set of issues? We look forward to finding out - from you.

Jack and Suzy Welch are the authors of the international best-seller Winning. You can email them questions at Winning@nytimes. com