Power of Questioning

Someone has said: "We are only as effective as the information we have". And asking questions is one of the best way of collecting information. Questions have the power to turn a problem around, or to unleash creative power in any pursuit. In fact, Socrates himself believed that thoughtful questioning would provide the questioner the means to support or discourage their own ideas. Academic research tends to agree the same, that questioning:

• foster critical thinking skills
• encourage others to ask questions
• spark lively and productive discussions
• open your mind to other opinions or beliefs
• make more effective solutions
• help you make better choices

According to The Miniature Guide to the Art of Asking Essential Questions?by Linda Elder and Richard Paul, the quality of our lives is directly related to the quality of our thinking, and that stems from the quality of our questions.

Questions help us set Priorities

Perhaps the most powerful benefit of asking questions is learning about ourselves and help in creating the lives we want. As we get older, we tend to ask ourselves fewer questions than we did when we were young. Children might ask, “What do I want to do when I grow up?” or “Do I want a family?” But as we age and we get our answers to the career and family questions, we might give up on questioning ourselves and the choices we make on a daily basis. But continuing to ask powerful and important questions will help us continue to define our priorities and hence, our quality of life.

In order to use questions effectively, you must first understand the type of answer you are after. For instance, do you just want the facts? Or would you prefer someone’s opinion? Do you want to steer the conversation, or would you prefer to be an unbiased listener? The following are three types of frequently used questions and when used appropriately, can garner you the information you need.

1. Open and Closed QuestionsOpen ended - Fact plus explanation/opinion starts with why, what, how, tell me about, describe, elaborateClosed Ended - Short, Facts based only. mostly in Yes or No.
2. Probing Questions - Just curious, tell me something about..
3. Leading Questions - Food was good, isnt it? How it is that we are still not done?

Knowing when to use an open or closed question is important. Using a closed question when trying to start a conversation will actually kill the conversation or lead to momentary silence. Conversely, using an open question to get a specific fact might provide too much information. Hence its important to know when to put these question types where.

• To gain information, use open questions, closed questions, and probing questions.
• To build relationships, ask people what they do or seek their opinions. Use open-ended questions, such as “What do you like best about working here?” Use questions that will maintain an open dialogue to get them to connect to you.
• To solve a problem, use probing questions. A series of probing questions works best with a technique like the “5 Whys” method, where you repeatedly ask questions to drill down to the real reason for a particular issue. For instance, if you’re losing a client, you might ask, “Why are we losing this client?” If the answer is “Because they get faster results at Company X,” you might then ask, “Why can’t we get results as fast as Company X?” If the answer is “Because we don’t have the resources,” you might ask, “Why don’t we have those resources?” and keep on drilling until you come up with a problem you can solve at the basest level.

• To manage or coach, use leading (and even rhetorical) questions. Using the right leading question may help people reflect and commit to action that you’ve identified. “Won’t it be great when you know this client inside and out?” or “Don’t you feel confident now that you’ve created a plan for next year?"

Here is a good video for more insights on questioning because i am sure there will be questions post reading this...lol --> Link