the power of questions

One of the things that sticks in my mind from my childhood days is the memory of looking exasperatedly at one of my brothers, who would look calmly at me and say, "Ask a stupid question and you get a stupid answer".

I also remember very well getting into trouble for having apparently persisted in asking too many questions one after the other. Children do that, don’t they? Often, they get told off, and so begin to believe that asking questions is not a good thing.

Is asking questions not a good thing then?

The quality of our results depends on the questions that we ask.

Yet many people don’t ask enough questions in the first place. It could be that you were told not to ask questions of your elders, when you were at school, or it is not considered to be part of the culture within your organisation. Another key reason is that many people feel afraid of asking a question, for fear of looking stupid.

Here’s a question for you - Are there any stupid questions?

Consider this. Isn’t what you think as "stupid" only relative to where you are at in your thinking? The questioner may be less experienced than you, or they may have seen a perspective that you haven’t as yet, perhaps.

For example, many of those who had Ted Turner (the founder of CNN) ask them in pre-cable TV days if they thought cable TV was a good idea may have thought Turner’s question to be a stupid one. In fact, most people didn’t think cable would work. Yet today, Turner is a media mogul.

Consider also the story of a dog food company. At the end of their annual convention, it was time for the CEO’s speech. They had heard great reports over the last few days – from extraordinary targets for the coming year to great marketing and sales plans – and the CEO had just one question, "If everything is going so great, why aren’t we selling more dog food?" A lone voice came from the back of the room, "Because the dogs hate it".

The "stupid" question may well be the question that is needed. It is often the simple and obvious things that get overlooked.

Do you ask questions of yourself, and of your team? And do you also encourage others to do the same? Is it OK for questions to be asked... including the "stupid" ones?

Questions such as:

• What is the purpose of our doing this?
• For what reason do we do this this particular way?
• What can be done to make this better, more streamlined?

Great Questions Make You Stop and Think

The kind of question you ask makes a difference. Consider each of the following questions.

Question 1: What went wrong?
Question 2: What can we learn from this?

What difference would each of those questions make to the responses that you get? And therefore your subsequent results?

I recently read about a CEO in conversation with a consultant. The CEO asked why he should employ the consultant, seeing as they had achieved growth in excess of 20% with no signs of a slow-down... to which the consultant asked, "How do you know that it shouldn’t have been 34%?"

Questions focus your thinking. This is what coaches do with their clients, and what great leaders who coach do with their people. They ask great questions – questions that make people think, learn, grow and make changes.

Also, when you ask a question, stop and be silent, to allow the other person the space and time to think it through. Bite your tongue if you have to! This is one of the most powerful coaching skills that anyone can have in their toolbox.

The questions you ask determines the quality of your thinking, which leads on to the quality of your decisions and actions, and ultimately your results.

What are the questions that you haven’t yet asked, that if you did, would make a significant difference to your results?

Action Points

Take some time out to review your year just gone. And also your year ahead.

1. What would you like to be different this year?

2. What will you stand for that will give you a sense of purpose and provide a guiding principle against which to make decisions?

3. How can you allocate time to ensure that you have time to reflect and plan?

Quote

"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." – Pablo Picasso

"The important thing is not to stop questioning." - Albert Einstein

"The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the right questions." - Claude Levi-Strauss

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