The power of asking questions and nine reasons to use them. Let's jump right in!

1^st reason — Getting information and data.

After 20 years in corporate world of market research, this specific dimension is an immediate no-brained. You ask — you get your answers. You get your answers — you get access to information. With this information comes power — to shape business decisions, to choose strategic directions, to build new products, to change the new ones to fit your customers better and so on. Without asking questions you are forced to stew in the realm of your own assumptions, guesswork and limitations. Questions are the window to the outside world.

2^nd reason — Clarification.

As simple as that. Let me illustrate this with a short story. Long, long time ago, back in my corporate days in a wonderful multinational corporation there was a product. This product was a washing powder. Me — the young, beautiful and much, much slimmer princess of insights and analytics working closely with Fabric Care team of heroes. One beautiful day we set out into the wild of anthropological study in our customer's homes to understand why a competitive product is so highly praised by this specific user segment — against the kitchen logic of laboratory test results. These results clearly indicated that we had everything needed to win. Excellent, snow-white washing every time, all stains removed, fabrics intact and fresh smell lingering. You get the drift. Armed with this superior knowledge, I entered the realm of our consumer's kitchen and observed intently her process of starting her laundry. She opened the washing machine dispenser, measured a hearty amount of competitive product (triple of the recommended dosage) and then proceeded to pour a glass of water-like liquid into the dispenser. What is it that you poured in — I asked. Just a little bit of Vanish she answered… Curtain drops. If I have not asked this clarification question, we would have never learned that one of the reasons of excellent reviews of competitive washing powder came with habitual use of bleach by a sizeable group of our potential users.

3^rd reason — Ideation, innovation and decision making.

One of the most powerful tools to get the creative juices flowing is to use questions during an ideation discussion to get the creative juices flowing. The more you ask — the more potentially hidden information might come to the surface. One of the most powerful illustrations of this in my mind is the experiment which I have observed several times by now, where a group of people are given a set of seemingly identical data sets, based on which they need to make a group decision. Only after some time certain percentage of the groups in question come to realize that the packages are not identical and if you ask enough questions to others in your team — you might relatively quickly uncover this fact. This revelation allows to put together much more comprehensive analysis and make much better final decision. Rings any bells from your business setting?

4^th reason - Understanding context.

Being aware of what is going on around you was one of the historical survival traits for our ancestors. Spotting that sabretooth lion early enough might have meant that you stood a chance of escaping its claws. The truth of the matter is that it did not change that much recently only the lions tend to wear suits or elegant skirts nowadays…

A good strategy to work on your context skills is to block 15-30 min before and after one meeting every day. Before, you should write down: Who will attend? What are their goals for the meeting? How do you expect them to interact with each other and yourself? During the meeting, observe other people's behaviors and write down anything that surprises you. After the meeting, take some time to write down your observations and thoughts: Were all the invitees present? If not, why not? For those present, did they achieve their goals? Was there any conflict? If so, why? How did people interact with each other? Pay particular attention to the informal interactions before and after the formal meeting itself. Although this time around it is more about asking the questions yourself — it still counts!

5^th reason - Helping others

In this specific context I think of coaching as one of the ways to help others deal with obstacles, information overload, feeling lost, suffering from doubt. Right question asked at the right time by an experienced and seasoned coach can put you off your set trajectory of preexisting assumptions coupled with self-procured explanations, into looking at the barriers from a completely new perspective. Sometimes asking a simple why? more than once might do the trick and unlock somebody's hidden blockages.

6^th reason - Developing empathy

By simple act of asking a well-timed question we might get a lot of valuable insights into the situation of others. What is important for this person? What she or he sees as the greatest professional opportunities? In what areas she or he wants to grow? What barriers they are struggling with? How can I support this person?

Our assumptions might be highly deceitful in terms of reading into other people's motivations and thoughts. We are actually pretty bad in doing this. Why? Because every single one of us comes with a set of our own communication filters — consisting of our individual experiences, values, beliefs, expectations, faults, and virtues. We instinctively try to read our own mirror image into others actions and words. Asking questions might help to quickly uncover how wrong we were and might allow for building much deeper and more meaningful relationships as a result, while from previous episodes of this podcast we already know that relationships or network is our core human capital.

7^th reason — Making others feel noticed and appreciated

If we ask a question that refers specifically to a given person, is focused on their thoughts, feelings, observations or impressions, we automatically make a room for that individual to step into the spotlight, even if just for a moment. This is a simple yet extremely powerful way to make somebody feel noticed, valued, interesting and worth listening to, which essentially means speaking directly to our ego's deepest desire and need.

8^th reason — Self-awareness

By facilitating feedback from the people who have a chance to observe us at work or at play on a regular basis, we get a chance of receiving a timeless gift of insight about the elements that we might completely miss about ourselves. Feedback allows us to see our actions through the eyes of another person and reflect whether the way how we are being perceived or understood is in line with our goals and aspirations. Solicited feedback — if directed at our managers — also allows us to demonstrate the willingness to grow, learn and perfect ourselves.

9^th reason. Last, but not least… Power — buying time/appearing insightful

I would encourage you here to plan a small experiment yourselves. During the next important meeting pay special attention to the people in power. You might be able to see how they effectively use questions to: insert their dominance, steer discussion in the direction that they need or buy themselves time to think about the answer or solution to a tricky situation. It is a brilliant way to deflect without being hurt so to speak with an additional chance to appear insightful and strategic. Try it for yourselves!