Changing the Game: ACE Your Way to More Powerful Questions

"The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge."
-Thomas Berger

Most times, I imagine, writer-types don't publish their rough drafts.  I'd imagine the best practice to be to work out your ideas, order them properly, get feedback, and then publish (or some variation of this process).

I wondered what it would be like to 'shoot from the hip' as I'm formulating an idea. This post is such an endeavor.  Will others chime in to help clarify and shape the idea?  I'd love it if you'd be so kind.  

This idea first struck me as I listened to episode after episode of my favorite interview-based podcasts.  I was really impressed time and again with the caliber of questions I heard asked by my favorite hosts.  Questions that compelled the interviewee to mine the deep recesses of their brains.  Questions that evoked emotion and sparked nostalgia.  Powerful questions, indeed.

I wondered to myself, "do they have a methodology of questioning that can be replicated?"  Almost simultaneously, I thought of what such a methodology might look like.  I realize there are probably a thousand such methods available, but I want to posit another 3-pronged rubric of sorts, to powerful questioning.

This one is easy to remember, which might be an added bonus.   I call it "ACE." I believe that this paradigm of questioning can serve in a number of situations, both personal and business.  "ACE" is not meant to be linear, in that you necessarily go from A to C to E.  It's simply a categorical mindmap to help organize the "sorts" of questions you want to explore.  Using this mindmap, you can sit and think broadly AND narrowly about what questions might fit in each.  This can take practice to really get proficient, but it's uber-helpful to listen to great interviews and try to ID which category (if any of these), the questions fall into.  Good question asking is certainly a mixture of art and science.  Part of the art is natural curiosity (which is itself a combo of art/science and can be improved or increased).  Part of the science is thinking, learning and growing in this area (controllable inputs).

Asking good questions seems to be a key aspect of communication in every sort of relationship.  If that's so, the more we improve our question-asking skills, the more effective we become at communication.  Keep in mind I'd never prescribe a scripted conversation, per se.  The end-game here is really enhanced thoughtfulness when engaging other people.  With that, I'll give a brief blurb about each letter in "ACE."

ACE

• Affections- As in, those things that motivate a person inwardly. With this first tenet of 'ACE,' I think in categories of "feel," "like," "enjoy," "desire," "need," "hope for" and similar.   Internal motivation is somewhat difficult to get at (read:impossible) even for ourselves.  This line of questioning is very powerful when it encourages the person to think about what's going on inside and verbalize it. I can't tell you how helpful I've found it for someone to continue in this line of questioning with me.  It can become a discovery process, as I tend not to draw myself out in the way these questions wielded by a concerned party would. Examples could include, "How did that make you feel?"  "How is that different than what you'd hoped for?"and "What prevents you from achieving your perfect world scenario in this particular area?"
• Challenges- As in, what's REALLY going on?  This question category flows directly from the Affections category.  What do you love, like, want, need.....Followed by 'then what are the types of things that make access to those ideas, things, and goals difficult? Examples could include, "If you had an unlimited amount of any commodity, what would it be and how would it address your problem?"  "Can you think of a change in perspective you've undergone that has made similar challenges easier?" and similar.
• Expectations- This is an outcomes oriented question category, really.  As we are encouraged to think about what drives us, and what sorts of things moves against that drive, we can then imagine what we expect the world to look like as the challenges are addressed and some of our affections are realized. Examples of this category of question could include, "What do you anticipate will be the result of these initiatives, and what do you base that on?"  "Let's discuss what, even after achieving your goal and meeting the challenges, could leave you feeling less than successful here?" and similar.

Realizing that I'm 'shooting from the hip' here, I really want to hear from you.  Do you think of the questions you ask in categories?  If so, what are some categories you use to organize them?  If not, how do you improve your question-asking?  Chime in!!!

-DeJuan Brown -A collaborative thinker passionate about helping my clients think differently about the profitability of information access and compliance.