Common Pitfalls that threaten your effectiveness: The Powerful Question Series PT. 3
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
Welcome back to the “powerful questions” series, during which we explore the power of curiosity, and a great question, in accelerating your career and business performance. This is the third installment in the series. We’ve already discussed why questions can accelerate performance and how to supercharge your questions to increase your chances for success (link). If you haven’t already read those articles, they are a good place to start.
As a refresher, asking powerful questions can pave the way for creative problem solving, enhance your professional relationships, engage your team, and demonstrate critical thinking. The way to do this is to ask direct questions that are primarily open-ended.
So we know the why and the how of asking good questions, but we haven’t discussed the second part critical to execution, the what to avoid.
Like anything, the devil is in the details and the execution. Without care, attention, and thought behind any action, the effort may as well be for naught. Avoid these common pitfalls to harness your curiosity to accelerate your performance forward and achieve your goals.
Being repetitive. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? There’s a reason this is the trope of how to annoy a parent. Asking the same questions over and over again is repetitive, boring, and frustrating. Imagine this in a work context. Have you ever been frustrated by someone asking you to show them something over and over? Just as important as asking a good question is listening to the answer and integrating the information you learn. Aim not to rely on questions as a crutch; they’re meant to propel analysis to action and improve performance, not maintain the status quo.
Not drawing conclusions. A close cousin to being repetitive is not drawing conclusions. Have you ever been in a conversation that is never ending? A conversation in which there is seemingly no point or punchline? This is where so many people get frustrated and drained with unproductive meetings. The point of asking questions is to extract key information from which to draw conclusions and drive action. If this last part is ignored, the conversation risks staying in analysis paralysis.
Closed-ended questions. Want to know the fastest way to end a conversation? Easy – ask a closed-ended question. If you ask a question that can be answered with a simple yes or no, then it doesn’t leave the door open for valuable information from which to draw conclusions and drive action. Of course, there are times where a simple yes or no is necessary and wise, but consider the context when you form your questions.
Compound questions. Have you ever felt bombarded by too many questions at once? More likely than not someone was asking you a compound question. What is this? Its when you layer multiple questions into one. It’s best practice to ask one question at a time, or else you risk not getting all your questions answered. Its very easy for someone to avoid or glaze over answers when being asked multiple at the same time.
Why questions? When I was growing up, my teachers taught me that questions start with who, where, when, what, why, and how. I’m sure you were taught similarly. What I wasn’t taught, however, is why questions can often put people on the defensive. Think about it – why was this turned in late? Why did you complete the task a certain way? Why questions have a way of making someone think they’re being attacked, which can immediately hurt a relationship and thwart an initiative. Instead, think about the information you’re trying to get out of asking the question and rephrase it using who, where, what, when, or how. It will go a long way to getting you the information you need and maintaining your professional relationships.
If you aspire to a leadership position, or currently find yourself in one, asking powerful questions could be the fastest way to figure out what you want and how to get it. If you’d like to explore how to leverage this and other leadership skills to refine performance for you, your team, or your business, please reach out to learn how Jaclyn Beck Consulting could help you and your organization.
