Knowing what to ask to get the right answers sometimes requires the simplest of questions to be asked.
Senior executives envision horns on my head when I ask them simple questions…and keep on asking them until I get the answer I want. The horns are mythical but work really well in their effectiveness because they focus executives on the why. Then they realise they cannot answer them without quite a bit of thought.
Asking simple questions makes you stand out and allows you to innovate because they:
- Take people to the crux of the matter
- Test their assumptions
- Make people think about the fundamentals of the strategy, issue etc
- Finally: they can make many things possible.
Often leaders are too close to issues or don’t have enough information – sword of Damocles or a shining
star. It’s hard to decipher the truth. Some want to do things the way it has always been done. They don’t stop to innovate and or step back and ask simple questions. They apply the wrong language.
Instead of, we should, it’s we could. Instead of, let’s look at this another way, it becomes, can we? See the different direction the right type of question can take you? Turn these into simple questions and you’re onto a winner.
Questioning
One thing that distinguished coaching from other approaches to communication,
management and learning, is questions. Questions allow you to put your own ideas in a box [ ‘best/right/obvious way’] and ask someone else for ideas.
Questions are an expression of curiosity and creativity and channel people to:
- Focuses their attention –questions are not directive, but can be influential because they prompt people to look for a different solution and step outside the ‘problem mindset’ to look for answers in unexpected places.
- Elicit new ideas –however ‘obvious’ it may seem to you, it’s amazing how often people can come up
with several better alternatives. Ask the question to tap into their creativity. - Foster commitment – choosing to do something because someone told you or, dreaming up the answer yourself, changes your mindset. Even if its the same idea as yours, if they thought of it they'll own and commit to it.
Get people who know nothing about what you do to ask questions. It's a great way to find out what is not obvious and therefore won’t be obvious to your colleagues, clients or customers.
Whether it is for your, your job or your organisation, questioning things makes you to think differently, pushes you to innovate a often shows you your pathway to success: right in front of you.
