The quality of our thinking depends on the questions we ask ourselves.
Thus, by improving the power of the questions, we can increase the quality of our thinking. Powerful Questions are simple, yet that doesn’t mean they are easy. Asking Powerful Questions is an art: they are characterized by 3 elements:
- Composition: Powerful Questions start with how, what or why. Powerful questions are open-ended questions. When you are targeting a single person with a Powerful Question, avoid to start with why.
- Scope: Powerful Questions address the scope of the situation clearly. You want to tailor the scope as precisely as possible to stay within realistic boundaries of those involved in the exploration.
- Assumptions: be aware of the implicit or explicit assumptions that are in your question. Powerful Questions include assumptions only if those are justified.
The question that resonates most profoundly is often the one that speaks through silence
Here is a flavor of my favorite Powerful Questions:
- What problem is being solved with the current situation?
- What is the result that you don’t want, yet still get?
- What are you not seeing?
- What is the most important question that you would like to have answered this week?
- What would you dare to dream if you couldn’t fail?
- What part of your success has been based on skill and what part has been ‘luck’?
- What is your favorite Powerful Question?
You are asking Powerful Questions to learn something new, not to hear something you already know.
Hungry for more Powerful Questions? Contact me for more info.
The quality of our thinking depends on the questions we ask ourselves.
Thus, by improving the power of the questions, we can increase the quality of our thinking. Powerful Questions are simple, yet that doesn’t mean they are easy. Asking Powerful Questions is an art: they are characterized by 3 elements:
- Composition: Powerful Questions start with how, what or why. Powerful questions are open-ended questions. When you are targeting a single person with a Powerful Question, avoid to start with why.
- Scope: Powerful Questions address the scope of the situation clearly. You want to tailor the scope as precisely as possible to stay within realistic boundaries of those involved in the exploration.
- Assumptions: be aware of the implicit or explicit assumptions that are in your question. Powerful Questions include assumptions only if those are justified.
The question that resonates most profoundly is often the one that speaks through silence
Here is a flavor of my favorite Powerful Questions:
- What problem is being solved with the current situation?
- What is the result that you don’t want, yet still get?
- What are you not seeing?
- What is the most important question that you would like to have answered this week?
- What would you dare to dream if you couldn’t fail?
- What part of your success has been based on skill and what part has been ‘luck’?
- What is your favorite Powerful Question?
You are asking Powerful Questions to learn something new, not to hear something you already know.
Hungry for more Powerful Questions? Contact me for more info.