Asking "WHY"- Is it powerful in all contexts?

“Questions are the engines of intellect, the cerebral machines which convert energy into motion and curiosity to controlled inquiry”.

                                                                                                 David Hackett Fischer

We all have time and again heard about the importance of powerful questioning. But how often in our own lives, do we really spend time honing this skill?

History is ripe with examples where many inventors had their Eureka moments seeking answers to questions which they felt where the right ones or in many cases the “Why” ones? If we look around, it is common to see 4-year-old's to teenagers asking “Why” for every parental request or response.

We all have heard about the 5 Why’s technique which is also a well know problem solving framework. We all have had the importance of the “WHY” being told or eulogized time and again.

Despite the “WHY” being such a powerful question, I have often seen parents, leaders, colleagues, friends, spouses etc getting cringy when asked the question “WHY”. Whether it be reviews in office to, spousal conversations, to parent children conversations, when the “WHY” question props up, the mood in the room seems to change. 

Have you wondered about the same? (I was almost tempted to write “Why does that happen?”)

Let us start by going back to the basic traits of a powerful question. Eric Vogt, Juanita Brown, and David Issac's in their research on this topic outlined in their book “The art of powerful questions” have defined a powerful question as 

• Generating curiosity
• Simulating reflective conversation
• Thought provoking.
• Evoking more questions
• Surfacing underlying assumptions
• Generating energy and forward movement
• Inviting creativity
• Staying with participants

While a lot has been spoken about other elements in the model, what stuck me here was the importance of a powerful question’s ability to “generate energy and forward movement” and also the importance of “Staying with participants”, aspects that we seldom consider or think about in our questioning styles.

There is ample research which showcases that we humans are meaning making creatures. We find energy or a deep sense of involvement when we find avenues to express our values, our hopes, our ideals, and our opinions. There is always limited energy when it comes to only removing an impediment. Many times, when we put ourselves or our teams in a fix focus mode to solve an issue at hand, we may experience weariness or “Not another problem” fatigue or low energy.

Now let us go back to the question “WHY”, and its impact! What happens when we ask “Why”? 

Think about examples where you have asked the “Why” question to others. Reflect on the mood that was prevalent in the room. Think about what reactions people displayed then.

Now here are a few points to ponder keeping in context the need of a powerful question to generate energy and move forward while staying with the participants.

Asking a Why question, does it sound interrogative?

Asking a Why question, does it make individuals/individual defensive?

Asking a Why question, does it really put individual/individuals in a positive frame of mind?

If basis the context and situation if the above is a no, then the WHY is indeed a very powerful question in that context. The key element to ponder is moving forward if there is a yes in the above three. Will then the “Why” question lead to productive results or will help you move forward.

Research publicly available on this subject suggests that asking questions which focuses on creating images of possibility, leads people to open and work towards creating solutions to which they are invested in. History also has numerous such examples which illustrates this point. The 1980’s Tylenol crisis at J&J. James Burke is best known for the way he handled the crisis. He changed the primary narrative from “Why this happened”? to “What is the most ethical action we might take”? lifting the morale of thousands of employees to focus on finding solutions to not only save the moment but emerge stronger from it. Let us take a recent example the Covid Crisis, some of the questions which were getting posed in board rooms across the globe were

What can we do to ensure the health and safety of your workforce?

What is the company’s ability to cover near-term expenses?

What should we do to adjust our supply chains in the current scenario?

What can we do to prepare our workforce to work remotely for an extended period wherever applicable?

It is interesting to note the tonality in the above questions and capture the lessons from the above.

So, as we start working on honing this skill of asking questions both in our personal and professional lives, it is important to change our frame of thinking. Consciously practicing asking questions which can pass the below dipstick could be a starting approach.

1) Forward moving.

2) Generating possibilities. 

3) Non-intrusive.  

The above will undoubtedly be a great primer in changing our own mindsets through the art of questioning to look for possibilities while creating positive forward-looking energies.

So, while “WHY” is still a powerful question, “WHAT” could be the added booster that could give a fillip to your questioning skills.