Questions are the quickest and truest paths to insight. The better the questions you ask, the better the response you get.

So how do you ask the right questions?

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The success of an answer is dependent on the words chosen to ask a question.

The human brain is an ocean-deep searchable database linking memories, events, stories, emotions, and experiences together to form the answers to the infinite questions we ask. Words have amazing power over our brains, and what differentiates a good question from a great question are the words we choose in framing them.

You might ask yourself, Why don’t I save? and your brain will run through an algorithm of instinctive elaboration to find patterns based on every piece of information it has about you and will give an answer that may sound like this: "I have an expensive taste" "oh, I’m not paid well enough" "It’s not just my thing", and so on. If you reframe that question to say, What could I do to save better?, you sort of automatically put the brain on a mission to demystify the unknown; allowing it to think up profound ideas about the "how" and "why", and it motivates you to take some actions in this new world of possibilities.

It can be as straightforward and powerful as reframing the question, "What should we do?" to ask, "What could we do?". When questions of this nature are asked within a team, the mindset of the team members shifts from relying on the tools they have before them to opening up their minds to opportunities that ginger them to think beyond the bricks.

Questions that tend to unearth the unknown, that give room to dig deep and inspire genius thinking are often the right questions to ask; and they are only effective when we use the right words in framing them.

Listen beyond your ears, but with your heart, and observe with your mind.

Have you ever been in a meeting at, say, 10 a.m. that was scheduled to last 45 minutes but everyone didn’t settle until about 10:15 a.m.? It seems like they are going on and on, and you just sit there listening, trying to figure out where this meeting is headed, knowing fully well it’ll last a little longer than the stipulated time judging from the range of topics that have been discussed, and not one of them has concluded? If you listen closely, you’ll find that the right answers are being given to the wrong questions. No one is asking, “What’s the goal, and how could we achieve it?”.
Perhaps if you have the courage to ask this question in a situation like this, you’ll find that you could reduce friction in the room and grease the conversation by setting everyone in one direction.

If you listen, beyond your ears but with your heart and observe with your mind, you’ll learn to ask the right questions. The greatest inventors gifted to mankind on earth—Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Jobs, and so on—asked the right questions by listening to people and observing how things work. Innovators who change the world ask questions that disrupt the world. In one of his interviews, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, hinted that when you listen to people, paying attention to their problems as well as their desires and the questions they ask, you give them the chance for new knowledge and opportunities to create.

Innovators who change the world ask questions that disrupts the world.

Asking better questions creates value by posing one or more of these characteristics:

• They set some form of alignment: "What is the goal here?"
• They create clarity: “Can you explain more about why you went this direction?”
• They construct better working relations: Instead of “Did you meet your weekly target?” ask, “How's work going?”
• They inspire people to reflect and see things in fresh, unpredictable ways: “What could I do to improve my typography skills?”
• They encourage breakthrough thinking: “What other way could we approach this?”
• They challenge assumptions: “How will this affect the mental model of the user if you use a different coloured button?”

So as you learn to listen and better frame your questions, remember that questions are the quickest and truest paths to insight. When next you’re in a meeting room, a design thinking workshop, at a social gathering, or typing a search query on Google, look forward to asking the right question. Be curious. Choose your words wisely. Be unafraid. Sometimes, try the obvious question. Strive for empathy. Be informed. Keep it simple.

“You don’t have to have the answer to ask a great question, says Marquardt. A great question will ultimately get an answer.”

References:

How to ask better questions, Mike Vaughan (TEDx), How to ask the right question, Hal Gregersen (TEDx), Ask the right kind of questions, Judith Ross (Harvard Business Review)