Asking The Right Question

Friday, 30. April 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

What’s your favorite question?

The ability to ask good questions is the catalyst of innovation and effective leadership. Albert Einstein said, “To raise new questions, new possibilities - to regard old problems from a new angle - requires creative imagination and mark real advances.”

Dr Ralph Gerard, said “Reason can answer questions, but imagination is needed to ask them.”

Good questions stimulate the brain, and organizations…  The more questions we ask, the more creativity and innovation we will experience in our lives and business.  Yet as we age, we tend to disengage from asking questions.  Research as shown that as we grow older, we ask fewer and fewer questions.  Think about it.  Why does the typical 5-year old ask about 65 questions a day, while the typical 40-something asks less than 7 questions a day? ** Some popular answers are:

“Asking a question makes a person look stupid.”
“Asking questions is a sign of weakness.”
“Many people already believe they know the answer.”

It is unfortunate that in many segments of our society, asking questions is seen as a weakness – when in fact it is the opposite.  So how can a leader change this? - How can we build healthy Questioning into their culture and process?

Leaders build it through role modeling the “art and science” of Questions – and training other leaders/managers to do the same. The ability to ask wise and innovative questions is the process by which we develop, improve, and change – thus questions should be used anywhere decisions are being made: When launching a new product or service; when planning an event; when setting sales and marketing strategies, etc.

As a leader, take time to think through the various meetings you will participate in the next few days – then think through a few provocative questions that will help facilitate better decisions and processes.  Questions that clarify a needed decision, goal, problem, or challenge facing for your organization. Your questions can be broadly scoped, such as “What new products should we introduce into our portfolio this year?” or more specifically targeted, such as “What productivity improvements can be made in our recruiting process?”

This small, but powerful, change in your leadership will positively affect the culture, quality of decisions, and leverage intellectual capital in ways that drive innovation to new heights!

One question you can start using right away is:

“What new, or different idea, might improve ____________________?”

And Rudyard Kipling’s quote is always good to keep in mind: “I keep six honest serving-men. They taught me all I know; their names are: What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.”