Asking Key Questions

The easiest and most direct pathway to finding TRUTH is found in asking questions. Questions reveal facts, produce evidence, and establish parameters in which we begin to identify what is true and what is not. Questioning is a uniquely powerful tool for unlocking value in organizations and people: It spurs learning and the exchange of ideas, it fuels innovation and performance improvement, it builds rapport and trust among team members. And it can mitigate business risk by uncovering unforeseen pitfalls and hazards.

It all starts, I believe, with “WHY?” and continues as we keep asking this question in various forms. Why am I here? Why do I exist? Why have I been given the particular talents and abilities that I have?? These then lead to “What am I good at?” and “What various experiences have taught me that I can use in my present situation?”

These are not simply questions of what you like; they are more a question of how you and the world intersect. Of finding your place. Where you fit. And when you find that fit, it's just like product / market fit. Suddenly things will start happening of their own accord. Frictionlessly and effortlessly.

More questions to ask:

1. What are the hidden strengths behind your weaknesses?

2. What do you find easy that others find hard?

3. Where do you disagree with the majority and why?

4. What do other people say is special about you?

5. What is weird about you, and how might that be valuable?

You owe it to yourself to take this quest seriously, because in my experience if you don't, you'll just feel like you're treading water in life, as time passes by.

Some professions like doctors and lawyers are taught how to ask questions to get the answers they need to do their jobs. Few others understand that questions and the art of questioning is a skill that can be honed—or consider how their own answers to questions could make conversations more productive.

For some people, questioning comes easily. Their natural inquisitiveness, emotional intelligence, and ability to read people put the ideal question on the tip of their tongue. But most of us don’t ask enough questions, nor do we pose our inquiries in an optimal way. The good news is that by asking questions, we naturally improve our emotional intelligence, which in turn makes us better questioners—a virtuous cycle.?

Dating back to the 1970s, research suggests that people have conversations to accomplish some combination of two major goals: information exchange (learning) and impression management (liking). Recent research shows that asking questions achieves both.?The first step in becoming a better questioner is simply to ask more questions. Of course, the sheer number of questions is not the only factor that influences the quality of a conversation: The type, tone, sequence, and framing also matter.

Asking the right questions is at the heart of effective communication and information exchange. By asking the right questions – and asking them in the right way – in a particular situation, you can improve a whole range of communication skills. For example, you can gather better information and learn more, you can build stronger relationships, manage people more effectively, and help others to learn too.

Successful people ask better questions and, as a result, they get better answers. There are several techniques and approaches to asking the right questions that I will not be able to address in this article. For today, it is enough to encourage us all to ask the right questions including, how do we ask the right questions.