Recently I have been spending time online on LinkedIn, since I discovered that it had a Questions section (though it is perversely called “Answers”.)  I was very interested and impressed by the contributions, so I found myself being drawn into the ‘game’.  However. the aspect that has struck me is the difference in what happens when you ask a question as opposed to answer one.  Come up with a clever answer and maybe you’ll maybe get an accolade for “Best Answer” or a reply from the questioner.  However, ask a stimulating question and you may get 20-30 people all talking to, and engaging with, you. 

In my work as a coach and facilitator I often note that the thing that clients gain most value from is my questions.  This is strange when you consider that we live in a culture that so values ‘the expert’*.  The media is full of ‘experts’ pronouncing, and displaying their erudition, like little bantam cocks, and yet, when it comes to our lives and our businesses, who knows more about it that you do?  If you want to help someone, rather than telling them what to do, try asking a question rather than offering an opinion and see what happens.  Really good managers have know this for years, but it feels that this style of leadership is seldom represented in movies or books in praise of leaders.

I’d love to gather some examples of good questions and the impact they that they have had on you, or equally valid, the effect your good questions have had on others.

* Definitions of expert:

• Someone who knows one thing more than you do
• The word “expert” is formed from the conjunction of two roots which phonetically can be represented as “x” and “spurt”. Everyone knows that “X” is an unknown quantity.  A “spurt” is what one gets from squeezing a drop of water. Therefore, an expert is an unknown drip under pressure.
• ex means “has been” .. or once was or past … pert means “lively, sprightly, in good health .. bold, forward .. skilled” … so that an expert is one who has lost the innate intelligence of their childhood.

“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”   Naguib Mahfouz

“To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions.”  Sam Leak

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