While this probably has never been the subject of a scientific study, I believe the most-successful people of all time form the same crowd as the most-successful question askers of all time.
In some disciplines, this is self-evident: teachers, trial lawyers, philosophers, scientists, inventors, sales people, and market researchers come immediately to mind.
In those disciplines, the master-players all excel at The Art of Good Questions.
How about your discipline...your chosen field of business?
Could you and your people learn the Art of Good Questions?
The answer is - Yes.
Consider buying & selling as one example and think about it this way…
- You are a sales person. You are on one side of a chasm…a wide, deep, dark, bottomless crevice…it looks like a mini-Grand Canyon, except it is pitch black and you can see nothing when you stand on the edge and look down
- Your probable client is on the other side…too far to jump to be with you
- You and probable clients have been here and there before…lots of your probable clients are in that wide, deep, dark, bottomless crevice…somewhere
- You can do one of two things:
- You can do and say the same old things you have always done and said
- You can ask a terrific question that magically launches your probable client over the wide, deep, dark, bottomless crevice…over to your side
If you picked #2, well done, you know the The Art of Good Questions.
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"You gotta ask 'why' questions. 'Why did you do this?' A 'why' question you can't answer with one word." Larry King
Reader comments (2)
Comments from the original blog platform, 2008–2021.
rick baker ·
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning." Albert Einstein
rick baker ·
5 Probing Conversations, The Clarity Conversation - promoting alignment, removing wasted efforts and removing fear and dissonance The Expectations Conversation - linking vision to tasks, a culture of accountability The Fear Conversation - finding unspoken fears, discussing risk The Engagement Conversation - thoughts, feelings and what inspires people The Final 10% Conversation - make sure everyone has the opportunity to express their views Todd Henry, 'Die Empty' (2014)