What is it about questions that makes them so useful?

Laura Rogal
Jul 28, 2017 · 8 min read

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
― Voltaire

“How should we start this post?”

… was a question we asked ourselves as we decided to explore a meta-question: “What is it about questions that makes them so useful?”

Figuring out how and where to start can be a frustrating challenge for both entrepreneurs and blog post authors. As with so many things, once you gain momentum and hit your rhythm, things get easier.

We overcame our inertia by challenging each other’s thinking with the use of powerful questions as a disruptive force, just as Newton suggested in his First Law of motion.

So What?

As members of the #yesphx community, we’ve observed that the fast-paced style of many entrepreneurs places a premium on quick thinking, quick decision-making, and fast feedback loops for rapid learning. We lean into making our mistakes early and often, with the expectation we can pivot over to the proper course when needed.

However, sometimes mistakes are too large from which to recover, or the lessons-to-be-learned disappear in our haste to move forward. What if there was a way to avoid that?

What is it about questions that makes them so useful?

For starters, questions allow you to slow down and consider what’s going on in your environment. They give you a chance to see things from a different perspective, to learn, and even to save money and avoid exposing your business to unnecessary risk.

As an example, Laura’s semi-recent talk during PHX Startup Week illustrated how spending a little bit of time and funds up-front can prevent a significant and painful amount of spend later on. Simply asking and answering questions with your attorney, accountant, and other advisors can prevent a worst-case disaster scenario from materializing. These licensed professionals have an excellent vantage point from which to share how to avoid future pain.

We often see that proud businesspeople are afraid to ask questions of their advisors. They’ll agree just to go along and get along, and then end up in a hole because they didn’t understand what they were agreeing to.

Questions can also help you foster innovation and discover things you didn’t know you didn’t know. If any of these are important to your business, you’d better start asking yourself some difficult questions:

  • How might I better understand my customer’s point-of-view?
  • What am I (or my brand) known for?
  • What makes a prospect turn to us instead of our competitors?
  • What are some of the unintended benefits our long-term customers are seeing?

Questions can encourage you and your colleagues to look at things in a new light.

What gets in the way of using powerful questions?

When we go fast, it’s easy to overlook the power of a question. For various reasons, we reluctant to ask others, whether it’s for help, for learning, or for other business reasons. But asking an insightful question at the right time can provide breakthrough resources and opportunities that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to access.

These are some obstacles we frequently run into:

I don’t want to be embarrassed or look silly

Understandable, on the face of it: asking questions shows others we don’t know something. Asking powerful questions that are intended to draw out insights and wisdom are even more likely to showcase how little we really know!

One way we get past that is to remind ourselves we live in the age of transparency, and because of that we want to walk our talk on authenticity, vulnerability, and curiosity. Asking questions for which we don’t know the answer shows our willingness to learn, to co-create, and to focus on adding business value to the other person with whom we are engaging.

I don’t have time

You’ll get no argument from us; questions take time! Not only to ask the question, but to allow for the ever-so-important silence afterwards that allows the other person to receive and consider it.

With so many competing demands on our time, a default operating mode for some is to be telling, instructing, and directing others. Naturally, that seems like it takes less time. But does it?

If you’re in the midst of a real all-hands-on-deck crisis, then yes, you probably don’t have time for questions. Instruct away, knowing that in the aftermath you’ll give people time to reflect and consider what can be learned.

If on the other hand, you’re contemplating a path of action, or considering how you can encourage more of a generosity mindset for yourself and your team, then those are excellent areas in which to invest a little bit of extra time to use a powerful question or two.

I already ask questions!

Obviously, you can’t get through the day without asking tactical questions here and there, such as “What time are we meeting?” and “What are we discussing today?”

You know you’ve asked a truly powerful question when you get one or more of the following reactions:

  • The other person pauses, looks you straight in the eye, and says “Wow… that’s a good question” or “Wow… I need to think about that.”
  • They pause, look around, and don’t answer immediately
  • You find that not only does the other person not know the answer, neither do you.

I don’t know what I don’t know

While it’s rare for anyone to say this out loud, we see this often in entrepreneurial communities. It’s a natural by-product of being around creative-driven, innovation-fueled environments that are trying to disrupt archaic models.

We perceive there are authoritative experts all around us, when in reality most of us know nothing! Asking questions, and getting good at asking questions, keeps you in a beginner’s mindset and stokes the curiosity that leads to innovation.

Everyone you meet has information that is valuable to you and your business, if you ask the right questions! Otherwise, you’ll lose opportunities for growth and engagement.

What’s getting in the way of you asking a more powerful question?

How can I get better at asking questions?

Like any other tool, how you use questions in any given situation determines its effectiveness and impact. Improper use can cause harm just as judicious use can provide benefit.

If you’re eager to work on more powerful questions, below are some things you could consider.

Mindset (How you view things)

The biggest mindset shift is to move from listening to respond to listening to understand. Even experienced and trained professionals who ask questions for a living have to focus on this. Sometimes, we’ll remind ourselves to approach things with a beginner’s mindset so that we can keep our curiosity going.

Skillset (How you act)

As you challenge yourself to improve your inquiry skills, see if you can meet these criteria for powerful questions:

  • Open-ended, so that it provides a long and wide runway for a response. Closed-ended questions that result in binary “Yes/No” responses don’t help amplify a topic you want to explore.
  • Focused. One question at a time! A single, simple-to-understand question that lingers in the air even after you’ve stopped asking it is elegance in the making. A common pitfall for inexperienced inquiries is to meld two or more questions into one, making it challenging for the other person to figure out what you’re asking.
  • Non-prescriptive. Another frequent faux-pas is embedding your preferred answer or solution inside of your open-ended question. In legal terms, we’d call that leading the witness! To truly explore a topic with another person, let go of any attachment you have to their answer.

Along with these skills, having both patience and presence will go a long way towards creating an environment where others feel comfortable answering your thoughtful questions. And if you really want to challenge yourself, work on your listening skills. See if you can hear what’s behind behind the words, and what’s not being said.

Toolset (How you use)

Powerful and insightful questions are themselves supertools. To make it a little easier for yourself and others, you might want to:

  • Capture notes as unobtrusively as possible. When someone is answering your question, they may touch on 2, 3, or 5 different things you may be curious about and want to follow-up on. Use sticky notes, a journal, or some other quiet method that doesn’t disrupt their thought pattern.
  • Eliminate distractions. In today’s interrupt-driven workplace, giving someone your full and undivided attention not only shows respect, but keeps you fully present for the wisdom others will share with you.
  • Allow for silence. If they stop talking, relax and wait, don’t rush to fill the vacuum. Sometimes the most valuable things are said after a silent pause.

Over time, you’ll curate your own library of questions that you’ll use and make your own. If you want a few more candidates for inclusion in your library, here are some of our favorites:

To get a conversation started

  • What are you hoping for from our time today?
  • What would a successful meeting be (or look like to you)?
  • Is there anything I can help you with?

To get more information

  • What’s working well?
  • What have you noticed?
  • What is your take on the situation?
  • What concerns you about it?
  • Please say more about that.
  • What is an example?
  • Could you be more specific?

Moving to Action

  • On a scale of 0–10, where 10 is high, how prepared are you to take action on this right now? What would it take for you to get to a ‘10’?
  • What seems to be the main obstacle?
  • Where do you see your [project | job | life] headed right now?

One Question To Never Ask

Please… we are begging you. Don’t ever ask “What do you do?”, especially at a #yesphx event. If you’re at an event and looking for a conversation-starter with someone you just met, or don’t know very well, try one of these:

  • What has your attention these days?
  • What keeps you busy?
  • How did you find out about this event?
  • How do you know [person who organizes / sponsors it]?
  • How is your day so far?
  • What should I know about you?
  • What’s your story?
  • What did you think of… [the speaker | the workshop | the prior event]?

How do we end this post?

Inquiry — the seeking of information, knowledge, or truth — is both a 21st century skill and an ancient art form! Inquiry is at the core of innovation, enabling us to explore uncharted territory. A well-phrased, powerful question can help you gain clarity on a path forward by reconciling competing data from multiple sources. So now we ask you — how can you use this article to help yourself grow the #yesphx community?

….

Want More?

Check out JP Taxman’s story about the unintended results of a provocative question he floated in the #yesphx community

Read Jared Stauffer’s 4 Questions to Ask Yourself

Even more? Consider 6.5 Unusual Questions for Problem Solving

How to ask better questions TedX talk

1604 IgnitePhx 18209 by Devon Christopher Adams is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. Cropped from original

Author’s note: This article is co-written by Raoul Encinas and Laura Rogal. Like what we’ve done here? Send us suggestions on Twitter (or alternate Twitter) about other topics you’d like to hear about!

Laura Rogal

Written by

Mom. Lawyer. Nerd. Not always in that order, but I try.

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