What questions are you asking?

I love a good question.

Not just any question, though — it’s got to spark forward momentum and provoke fresh thinking.

In my work with leaders, those who ask great questions truly stand out. They don't trade solely in their own competence; rather, they ignite the curiosity of others. These leaders understand the power of a question to foster an exchange of ideas and perspectives.

Recently, at an offsite with 40+ leaders, the CEO was great at this. He asked questions like, "I wonder, if we didn’t already have momentum in X, what would we do to build it from scratch?" You could almost hear the cogs turning in everyone’s minds. His questioning became contagious, sparking others to throw their own questions into the mix.

Warren Berger wrote about the power of great questions in his book, A More Beautiful Question. Berger makes the observation that "in a world of complexity and uncertainty, the ability to ask good questions is becoming more critical to success.” I’d go further and say there’s a real danger in experts who try to close down a complex problem before it’s had time to fully reveal itself.

One powerful way to use questions is in creating an agenda for a meeting.

Instead of designing an agenda around a series of discussion topics, what would it look like to include some catalysing questions in the agenda? Or, at the very least, to draw those questions out before the conversation begins.

For example, instead of simply having "Review recent culture survey results" on the agenda, include a question or two: "What are the 3 biggest insights we gain from the recent culture survey results? What is the biggest surprise? What do we want to see change 12 months from now?" You can immediately feel the forward momentum in these questions. They’re not passive; they’re active.

Even if you don’t have those questions in advance, you can readily tease them out in the meeting itself. So, as someone starts to share those survey results, you can gently ask, “Once you’ve shared these results, what’s the question we want to grapple with in this meeting?”

So, what might it look like for you to spark thinking today with a beautiful question?

Speaking of which... I’d love you to help spark my thinking. What questions are you sitting with regarding your leadership, team dynamics, or meeting facilitation? What are you curious to explore? Hit reply and let me know, because your questions inspire blogs like this.

Until next time,
Simon