Your team has the answers, do you have the questions?

Note: This article is an edited extract from my new book, "Next Generation Safety Leadership: From Compliance to Care" which can be purchased as a hardback or (Kindle) e-book here.

Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.

– Voltaire

I strongly believe that the workforce has many of the answers that leaders seek, yet, in my experience, the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ is rarely accessed. This is a waste of a wonderful resource and a missed opportunity to build trust, engagement, connection, and ownership.

The phrase “there is no such thing as a dumb question” is often used in public forums in an attempt to create a trusting environment such that anyone can ask anything without fear of ridicule or criticism. This makes sense, and, indeed, as leaders we must consistently strive to create psychological safety so that our people feel safe to ask questions when unsure or unclear. That being said, some questions are better than others, and there are certain types of questions that leaders would do well to avoid asking.

After working as a psychologist for a quarter of a century, I am convinced that one of the most powerful infuencing tools leaders have at their disposal is the effective use of questions, yet developing this skill set has not necessarily received the attention it deserves in leadership development programs. While many leaders have been schooled in the vagaries of basic ‘open’ and ‘closed’ questions, there are far more powerful techniques that can be taught and mastered relatively quickly, yet can dramatically impact team culture and performance.

This article will provide some insights into how leaders can rapidly develop their use of effective questions, but first, a brief experiment ...

Please DO NOT answer the following question!

What is the capital city of France?

So what happened? If you are like most people (and possess basic geographical knowledge) your brain automatically sent the answer to your conscious mind (despite the prior instruction asking you NOT to answer the question). You became aware of the word PARIS.

Questions are powerful because they steer our conscious attention, and our brains are hard-wired to seek answers to questions. It becomes vital then that leaders are mindful of the questions they ask. For example, consider the following two questions:

1. “Who is to blame?”

2. “What is just one thing we can do to move forward?”

Question 1 will likely result in the creation of fear and defensiveness, whereas question 2 is more likely to lead to a solution focus.

As leaders, being mindful of the types of questions we ask can quickly result in more helpful and productive responses from the teams we lead, as well as positively impacting the prevailing culture.

ASSUMPTIVE QUESTIONS

Again, consider the following questions:

1. “Are there any questions?”
2. “What questions do you have?”

Rookie facilitators and trainers commonly ask question 1 at the end of a training session. The question is closed and non-assumptive, and a clear response option is simply ‘no!’ (Usually evidenced by the group sitting silently in front of the facilitator and wondering if they can leave yet).

In stark contrast, question 2 is open and assumes there are answers and is therefore more likely to elicit responses from the group.

Other assumptive questions for the above scenario include:

• “What is the main question you have, based on what we’ve covered so far?”
• “At this point in the session, what do you think is the most frequently asked question?”

Questions like these can help engage our teams during start-of-shift meetings and toolbox talks. Assumptive safety questions such as “What do you see as the greatest risk for the oncoming crew?” are extremely powerful and are much more likely to elicit helpful responses than passive questions such as “Are there any risks?”

ASSUMPTIVE VERSUS LOADED QUESTIONS

There is a big difference between assumptive and loaded questions, in terms of both the intent and the results. Assumptive questions are not seeking a specifc answer and are used based on the premise that people have a contribution to make, and to make it more likely they will voice their thoughts.

Loaded questions, on the other hand, are often used as a rhetorical tool that seeks to limit the answers to the questioner’s self-serving motives.

Examples of loaded questions include:

• “Don’t you think a smart person would know that?”
• “Haven’t you realized that’s wrong yet?”
• “Why is your team so lazy?”
• “Don’t you agree that it could be done faster?”

They often begin with question stems such as:

• “Given that ...?”
• “Since we already know ...?”
• “Why do people always ...?”
• “What is the sense in ...?”

Loaded questions often contain unjustifed assumptions and are manipulative in nature; hence they erode trust – in short, stop asking them!

INTERNALLY LOCUSED (‘ABOVE THE LINE’) QUESTIONS

For a number of important reasons it is desirable for leaders to encourage an internally locused (often more colloquially referred to as ‘above the line’) mindset within their teams. Internally-locused teams tend to perceive more personal control over situations and are more likely to take positive action. In contrast, externally-locused thinking tends to take our focus away from personal control and can result in inertia, blame, justification, and denial. Moreover, people with an internal locus of control are more likely to speak up, whereas individuals with an external locus of control are more likely to remain silent (Kahya, 2015). Hence, by fostering an internally-locused (‘above the line’) mindset within their teams, leaders can help to increase empowerment, engagement, and psychological safety.

The types of questions leaders habitually ask their teams can exert a strong infuence (positive or negative) on the prevailing locus of control within their teams. The basic rule here is that internally-locused questions will tend to elicit internally-locused answers. Equally, externally-locused questions will encourage externally-locused answers.

EXAMPLES OF EXTERNALLY LOCUSED (‘BELOW THE LINE’) QUESTIONS

• “Who is to blame?”
• “Why do I have to supervise everything you do?”
• “Why are we so unlucky?”
• “What’s the point?”

Such questions can be very damaging to relationships, morale, and the culture in general. They serve no useful purpose yet often result in the team feeling helpless and focusing on blame and negativity.

EXAMPLES OF INTERNALLY LOCUSED (‘ABOVE THE LINE’) QUESTIONS

• “What are we learning from this?”
• “What will we do differently next time?”
• “How do you think we can best move forward with this?”
• “What are your thoughts on how we can improve this?”

Such questions – especially when used consistently by leaders – lead to a solution focus as well as a greater sense of control and empowerment within their teams. Moreover, just the invitation to be involved in decision-making and problem-solving helps teams to experience a sense of belonging and engagement, which in turn fosters self-efficacy, psychological safety, and trust.

A word of caution.

While it is generally more productive to focus on positives, there are exceptions. For example, don’t ever do a dynamic risk assessment as an optimist! Sometimes it pays to be a pessimist, particularly when it comes to hazard identifcation (a pre-mortem is always better than a post-mortem!).

QUESTIONS THAT PROMOTE A SENSE OF UNEASE

High reliability organizations (HROs) – generally associated with high hazard industries such as nuclear and aviation – are renowned for possessing a sense of ‘chronic unease’ when it comes to thinking about potential risks. Despite inhabiting the upper stages (proactive and integrated) of safety climate maturity, leaders in HROs would not say, “We haven’t had any incidents, we are doing great – let’s have a barbeque!” Rather, they would refect on questions such as “What are we missing?” “What else do we need to do?” and a constant refrain of “What if ...?”

The reflexive tendency for culturally mature organizations to ask such questions promotes a state of ‘collective mindfulness,’ especially when combined with high levels of psychological safety that enables team members to speak up freely. These attributes are hallmarks of integrated safety cultures.

KEY POINTS

• The brain is hard-wired to answer questions.
• Leaders can use targeted questions to steer attention and invite their teams in.
• Above the line questions are more likely to elicit above the line, solution-focused answers.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

• On balance, when communicating with your teams, do you do more telling or asking?
• What is an example of an occasion when you asked your team loaded or ‘below the line’ questions? What would have been a better question in that situation?
• What are some examples of effective ‘above the line’ questions you could ask your team during your next meeting?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Clive Lloyd is an Australian psychologist who assists high-hazard organisations to improve their safety performance through the development of trust and psychological safety and by doing Safety Differently. He is the co-director and principal consultant of GYST Consulting Pty Ltd, and developer of the acclaimed Care Factor Program.

Clive was recently named among the top 5 Global thought leaders and influencers on Health & Safety by Thinkers360. 

He is the author of the Amazon best-selling book "Next Generation Safety Leadership: From Compliance to Care".

For further information about the Care Factor approach please contact us at:

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