Powerful Questions

What will success look like?

I've been thinking about questions lately. Not the types of questions we throw around out of habit and reflex ("How was your day?"). Not the types of questions that we know are coming our way every day ("What's for dinner?"... from my kids). I've been thinking about big questions. The ones that prompt us to explore our values and beliefs. The ones that push us to think more deeply. The ones that encourage creativity. 

If anything was possible, what would you do?

In their HBR article The Surprising Power of Questions, Alison Wood Brooks and Leslie K. John note: "Questioning is a powerful tool... it spurs learning and the exchange of ideas, it fuels innovation and performance improvement, it builds rapport and trust among team members."

As a manager, it's not your job to know the "right" solution to every problem. It's your job to unlock the perspectives and wisdom of your team, and to clear the path for the team to make progress. What if -- as managers -- we asked more questions instead of proposing solutions? Our outcomes would be stronger. Our teams would be more engaged. Management would be more fun. 

In your 1x1 check-ins, team meetings, and dinner table conversations today, I challenge you to pose one big, open-ended question. I encourage you to actively listen to what and how people respond. What do you notice? What do you learn? 

What is one small step you can take today?

In partnership,

Christina (and Jodi)

Articles that I've been reading about powerful questions...

The Surprising Power of Questions​ by Alison Wood Brooks and Leslie K. John, Harvard Business Review

How Asking Powerful Questions Can Lead to Strategic Outcomes​ by Mark Cappone, The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business