From Curiosity to Clarity: Insights from Mahlatse Mashua

There is such a thing as a good question, but as for bad questions, well that’s arguable. At iHub recently, a masterclass was held on asking questions with Mahlatse Mashua, peacemaker and Managing Director at Roc Nation Sports. He shared a profound message: "If we ask enough questions, we could get to peace“.

This statement may raise some eyebrows with some people who are not fans of being questioned (or asking questions), and it may come across as invasive- which is valid. However, asking questions that are both relevant and clear, lets you get a more profound understanding and enables you to uncover assumptions and discover possibilities.

With all the knowledge you now have about asking questions, ask yourself this, “why is this question important to me?” Understanding your “why” helps you steer your questions in the direction that is most favourable to you and ask with intention.

Remember what was said about relevant and clear questions? See what we did there, we asked you an important question.

Mahlatse demonstrated that asking simple questions can be an effective way to solve any problem. He directed it to him being a peacemaker in the sports world. The simple question he made an example with was, “What is happening in the team?“ He would ask this question when trying to solve team disputes.

A simple yet straightforward question to help you get to the core of the issue. It’s all in the simple questions to uncover all that was hidden or avoided because sometimes, you don't need to beat around the bush, keep it simple, direct, and clear.

Are you still following?

Finally, Mahlatse emphasised that it is important to ask for feedback with the different interactions you have, this is a great way to build self-awareness and gain relevant insights about yourself. Think about it for a moment, how can you know about others' experience of you and improve your people skills if you don’t ask the people you interact with? Allow yourself to learn from the different interactions, that is how you grow.?

In the theme of keeping it simple, the question you could ask is, “How did you experience me in this interaction?”

This one question allows you to find deeper meaning and establish a connection with everyone, by simply just understanding yourself and growing from the feedback you get.

To sum everything up, Mahlatse Mashua’s masterclass on asking questions, provided great tools and insight to achieve peace, understand one another, and embrace growth, your growth- and a key learning is to look inward first and then ask from a place of authenticity and intent.

Remember to always embrace your curiosity by asking relevant, follow-up, and clear questions. Always speak with intention for you to get all the information you’re looking for, and for everything to be understood.

Any questions?

References

Results Lab. “How to Ask Questions that Will Result in Good, Useful Data.” Asking Better Questions, 2023, https://resultslab.com/asking-better-questions/. Accessed 1 9 2024.