The power of questions

 

 

Recently one of my friends made a statement that I totally disagreed with.  My first thought was to respond “Are you crazy But instead, I asked a series of questions that helped me understand his viewpoint.  What I realized after the conversation is that asking questions has been part of my life ever since I can remember.

In the business world, I would ask questions to find out what was going on in different parts of the company.  I also found that asking questions could provide great feedback.  One of my favorite questions was, “If you were president of the company, what changes would you make?”

I always enjoyed hearing the answers.  People were totally honest and realistic in their suggestions.  And most of the time, I could implement the changes quickly, which made frontline workers feel that they had a stake in the organization. They were also more open to suggest things in the future.

Now, as a teacher, I encourage students to ask questions so that they can gain the knowledge they need to be successful.  Tony Robbins says that “successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”

You can also ask questions that are transformational in nature.  One of my mentors recently asked me what memories I want to make this year.  They also asked if there was anything I wanted to do but have not yet done. In both cases, they offered their assistance to help me accomplish these goals while pushing me to think beyond my limits.

Questions are a powerful tool in allowing you to be both informed and transformed.  My challenge to all of us is to really think about and ask the type of questions that will make a difference.