This May I’ll release a new book, my fourth. Previous books have taken aim at topics important to leaders and innovators: entrepreneurship, creativity and leading in uncertain times. This new book targets something critical to all of them and far too easily overlooked: Questions.
Questions aren’t something we give much thought to. We should, and leaders must. Why? For one thing, we are a questioning species. Questions are quite literally at the foundation of everything we do – including how we lead.
Here’s a tangible example. As December ended and you rounded the corner into the new year, chances are you had some questions. “How can we do better in the new year?” you undoubtedly asked. “What should our goals be to facilitate doing better?” “What should the supporting budget be, and where should we prioritize spending?” Without a doubt, questions are ever-present. And questions such as these, functional questions, play an important role. But odds are you haven’t paused to ask this: Why does it even matter if we question? It’s a greater question, and far more important.
A drive to answer we underappreciate
In the seconds it took to read that greater question, chances are you’ve already defaulted to a quick search in your brain for the usual suspect answers. You may have answered that questions have the power to reveal. It’s a good response, and not the only one, but here’s the problem. Whatever the answer, we tend to tally the answer and quickly move on. We don’t linger. We note that answer, but we don’t really think about its power. The chief reason is that we are trained to conclude that a question’s job is to get us to an answer. Answer secured, job done.
It’s also how we so often lose the value in a question. It’s also the seed from which far too many leaders begin to lose their way. Answers matter. But the value of questioning, especially as a practice and particularly to leaders, is far greater than any answers it produces. Skeptical? Perhaps curious? Consider what the habit of asking can yield.
The more valuable habit of questioning we should pursue
Mundane as it sounds, the backbone of any well-run organization is the ability of its people to strategize and plan – if, that is, strategizing and planning are considered perpetually. Beneath both are questions. But not simply one-and-done questions.
At their best, strategies and plans represent a series of pilot tests. Greater than documents, goals and measures, they must become “habits of the mind.” More precisely, education reformer and MacArthur Fellow Deb Meier suggests five core habits that ought to be part of every leader’s daily way. The five habits just so happen to be the asking of five questions. How do we know what we know? triggers the habit of checking our assumptions, not necessarily to change them, but to affirm their accuracy and completeness. Is there a pattern? reminds us not to chase hunches or anomalies, but instead pursue patterns in what we’re seeing. It’s repetition and patterns that signal opportunity or threat.
With clarity about our assumptions and patterns identified, the third habit activates them, asking some form of the question, What if … ? “What if, given what we know and the patterns, we fixed the problem this way?” “What if we pursued the opportunity that way?” Even with these first three questions, you can see the power they offer leaders and their teams to clarify purpose. The fourth habit amplifies it all. You intentionally ask, Is there another way? This isn’t our default mode. Yet, no matter how good we are or how well we are doing, there’s always another way. The best leaders seek it out, even if just to challenge their current way and make it more bulletproof.
The final habit is a vital question, one that seems obvious, but one we shockingly fail to ask: Who cares? Unless we ask this question – in the context of the other four, ongoing and in an effort to prove it true rather than simply assume or wish it, all else is quite literally lost (or soon will be).
A new mindset for every leader
Getting to answers that fit the needs of the moment isn’t just challenging, it’s crucial. Using questions to get to those immediate answers is one important role of asking. But the true yield leaders seek – long-term viability, competitive advantage and the creation of lasting value requires us to consider questions and their use in a whole new way.
I like the way bestselling author Kate DiCamillo captures this thought. Asking questions like “Could it be?” “What if?” or “Why not?” just once or here and there is “never enough. We must ask ourselves these questions as often as we dare. How will the world change if we do not question it?” In the end, that’s the job of any leader. Changing the world, be it for all time or simply from fiscal year to fiscal year. That’s what leadership is all about. That’s why the questions matter. As you forge your way towards better in the coming year, add asking to your list.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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