“The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The true dangerous thing is asking the wrong question.” Peter F. Drucker.
I have always been fascinated by great questions. Over the years I’ve spent a good amount of time trying to hone my questioning skills and having questions at the ready that challenge and inspire the groups I work with. So, I decided to research the etymology of the word question and found that it comes from the Latin quaestionem, a noun form of quaerere, to ask or seek. This root also gives us the word quest, inquiry, as well as inquisition among others.
For the purposes of this post I was originally not going to include the word inquisition in the paragraph above until I asked one of my closest friends, a brilliant attorney, what his favorite questions were. When he replied “the easy ones,” that led to an interesting dialogue that made me truly realize the power of questions and their different applications given one’s intent. As a side note, my friend also said: “Listen Tad, I don’t deal in puppies and rainbows like you,” but that’s a subject for another time!
Used well, great questions are facilitators’, attorneys’, parents’ and leaders’ best friends. Conversely, as a facilitator I know from experience that poorly asked or ill timed questions can have a negative impact by confusing the group and even inadvertently leading them down an unproductive path. Great questions, for the purposes of this post…
- Lead to deeper understanding,
- Are asked just in time,
- Require thought on the part of the listener prior to response,
- Are asked with a sincere sense of curiosity and wonder,
- Set the stage for listening and thus building stronger relationships.
The remainder of this posting provides some excellent questions that meet these criteria given different situations.
Getting Advice from Colleagues
If you were in my situation, what would you do?
Why I love it – It allows you to really understand what your colleague feels are the important elements of the situation. It also shows that you value their opinion on what matters most to you.
Moving from Blame to Accountability
What has been your contribution to this situation?
Why I love it – This question moves the speaker to more deeply understand (and acknowledge) their role in the problem or situation at hand. This can be extremely helpful when the speaker is blaming others and/or expresses that they have no power in the situation. If we are part of the situation we always can at least have influence over how we respond to situations, which can often be the lever needed to set the stage for positive change.
Understanding How You Can Help Your Network Partners
How can I know if someone I’m speaking to is a good potential customer for you?
Why I love it – It focuses your attention completely on the other person and allows you (and your network partner) to better understand what matters most to them.
Source: Burg, Bob. Endless Referrals, page 21. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2006.
Bringing Clarity to Your Business Model (three question set)
What are you deeply passionate about?
What can you be the best in the world at?
What drives your economic engine?
Why I love Them– This is Jim Collins’ “hedgehog” concept. Essentially this is a concept that provokes us leaders, entrepreneurs, business owners, etc. to bring clarity to their business model by understanding how the answers to the three questions above intersect. This is a powerful concept that Collins explains more thoroughly in his book Good to Great and that I have personally found useful in providing clarity in myriad situations.
Source: Collins, Jim. Good to Great, pages 90-119. New York, NY: Harper Business, 2001.
Preparing for an Important Meeting or Interaction
Imagine that the meeting is over and has greatly exceeded your expectations – What decisions were made? What are people saying to each other in the hallway?
Why I love it – It makes you, person you are asking this question picture a positive outcome before it has happened. This makes it easier to identify what needs to happen to make the outcome a reality and it also clarifies what one really wants and defines as a successful outcome.
Interviewing for Job Applicants’ Competencies (problem solving example)
Tell me about the most difficult problem you had to solve – What specific steps did you take to resolve it? What was the outcome of the situation?
Why I love it – In this case, it’s not the specific question that is great, it is the concept behind it – behaviorally based interviewing (BBI). This concept requires far more time than I can devote here, but for those reading this who do not know about BBI, I encourage you to contact me and read the book shown below.
Source: Hoevenmeyer, Victoria. High Impact Interview Questions, page 89. New York, NY: AMACOM, 2006.
I hope that you have found value in this post and that you will check out the sources I refer to, as they are all great books! Please also contact me if you would like more sources, as I collect books that contain powerful questions on a variety of topics.
Be your best self today! Tad