Powerful questions
The first people had questions and the earth flourished. The second people had answers and the earth perished. (an American Indian)
We can walk through life looking for answers and providing answers to those around us. This habit can give a temporary sense of comfort, but little transformation. We can also happily explore questions for ourselves, and offer helpful questions to enlarge the field of possibilities for those around us.
Framing agendas in formats of questions is a deliberate and powerful act in itself.
In the middle of a stalled conversation we can choose to offer a new question, rather than take sides or offer counter arguments. Think what might help now, what question is behind this topic? What is the question of this question? We frame our question, have it clear in our minds and share it with others, without needing an answer or a quick fix.
We may also conclude gatherings with questions to signify and support the journey beyond the day.
A genuine question is one for which we still don’t have an answer. There resides the power of the question to guide thought and action.
As David Cooperrider put it ‘‘human systems grow towards the questions they persistently ask about’’. That is how important questions are. The way a question is framed is enormously powerful. Some questions create division and fragmentation. Other questions open the possibility of understanding and action.
Notice the difference between:
- How can oil companies pollute less?
- How can we contribute to restoration and preservation of the environment?
The first question has a problem focus. Pollution is the problem we need to sort out. It is also not our problem but the oil companies’ problem. In the second one, we take responsibility for pollution and connect to the future we want to create. This illustrates the challenge we have, to frame questions as questions, rather than as problems. We are very used to focusing on problems. Yet problem-focused questions stem from a limited frame of mind and possibility. Instead, framing our questions positively connects us to creativity and possibility, key drivers of innovative ideas.
Consider these other two questions:
- Are we happy as a couple?
- What makes us happy as a couple?
The first question is a closed one (yes/no with restrictive limited answers). When reading it, doubt is raised as a sharp sword. This underlines the importance of the usually hidden assumptions that questions have. The second one assumes that happiness exists within our relationship, and we focus on those things. What a blessing!
Whether for an invitation, an agenda, as an activity during a gathering or as a way to conclude, here are some questions we’ve found helpful to test our questions:
- Where does this question focus our attention?
- What assumptions or beliefs are embedded in this question?
- Is the question relevant to the real life or work of the people who will be exploring it?
- Is this question clear, can I understand it easily? Is it sharp and surprising, clear enough while maybe paradoxical? Questions framed as short oxymorons are harder to pinpoint but so effective. See these examples of oxymorons: How can we grow smaller? What is the impossible solution? Who is yelling silently in our city? How can we amplify muted voices?
- Is this a genuine question — a question to which I/we really don’t know the answer? Or are we leading the witness?
- What question could provide a fresh route of exploration?
- Have we provided the time and space to allow profound answers? We may ask a great question but if we do so in the context of an impending deadline, pervasive hunger, or in an antagonistic atmosphere, we may lose the value of the question, or the trust of those gathered.
Exercise: Question Storming
Question Storming is a brief, intense, rapid-fire process based solely on asking questions. Questioning without stopping to answer or judge the questions taps into our stream of consciousness and expands our awareness of possibility. This is best done with a limited time, 10 minutes or less. One person is the question holder and presents the first question. Afterwards, she is silent and lets others question the question. Questions are captured on a flip chart or with each person writing on stickies to share on a wall. From Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 7 Powerful Tools for Life and Work by M.G. Adams (2004)
If you want to dig deeper the topic of “questions”, we recommend the Public Conversations Project by Sally Ann Roth. Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future, Margaret Wheatley (2002) sums up beautifully and simply the importance of questions that matter. The art of powerful questions, E. Vogt, J. Brown and D. Isaac.
