Questions are something we ask every day without giving any thought to it. What’s the weather like today? What should I eat for breakfast? Despite these seeming quite trivial, they are more important that we think. Questions spur learning and the exchange of ideas, fuel innovation and performance improvement, builds rapport and trust among team members and enhances learning. Reading Tim Ferriss’ book ‘Tribe of Mentors’ made me wonder, how do you ask good questions? For some people, questioning comes easily. Their natural inquisitiveness, emotional intelligence, and ability to read people put the ideal question on the tip of their tongue. But most people don’t ask enough questions nor ask the questions in optimal ways. I always asked a lot of questions. More than most others. But what actually makes good questions? Without being convoluted, I think that good questions are those that challenge you and your mentor/teacher/interviewee the most. To ask good questions, me must look deep into ourselves and try to think outside the box. Personally, I always made a point of asking any guest speaker that interested me at least one question. It used to scare me a lot having all the focus of a large room on me. My palms would sweat and I’d replay my question over and over in my head. I didn’t succeed every time, but eventually, I realised that simply asking a question is engaging way more than 99% of the audience. It doesn’t have to be a good question, just accustom yourself to asking them, even when there is lots of people around. I think another aspect of what makes good questions is the simplicity, yet complexity of a question. Often, the best questions are simple on surface level, but can address a myriad of vastly complex and interrelated issues. When asking questions, you don’t want it to be too broad so that the answer is discursive. You must find the sweet spot where the question is not overly-specific, but can still generate a reasonably concise and insightful answer. Listen intently to the person you wish to question, so that you can formulate your ideas with accuracy and fervour. A Harvard Business School study found that by asking questions, we naturally improve our emotional intelligence, in turn making us better questioners. In line with the socratic method, the first step in becoming a better questioner is simply to ask more questions. Tim Ferriss’ book gave me another glimpse at this - between his podcasts (in which he is often praised for asking great questions) and ‘Tribe of Mentors’, amongst other similar books like ‘Tools of Titans’. What fascinated me about the book is that over 100 successful people in their fields are asked the exact same 11 questions. Over the near 600 pages, you begin to see concurrent patterns and viewpoints between different people, as well as fascinating answers. The questions were particularly good.
How to ask good questions
How to ask good questions
How to ask good questions
Questions are something we ask every day without giving any thought to it. What’s the weather like today? What should I eat for breakfast? Despite these seeming quite trivial, they are more important that we think. Questions spur learning and the exchange of ideas, fuel innovation and performance improvement, builds rapport and trust among team members and enhances learning. Reading Tim Ferriss’ book ‘Tribe of Mentors’ made me wonder, how do you ask good questions? For some people, questioning comes easily. Their natural inquisitiveness, emotional intelligence, and ability to read people put the ideal question on the tip of their tongue. But most people don’t ask enough questions nor ask the questions in optimal ways. I always asked a lot of questions. More than most others. But what actually makes good questions? Without being convoluted, I think that good questions are those that challenge you and your mentor/teacher/interviewee the most. To ask good questions, me must look deep into ourselves and try to think outside the box. Personally, I always made a point of asking any guest speaker that interested me at least one question. It used to scare me a lot having all the focus of a large room on me. My palms would sweat and I’d replay my question over and over in my head. I didn’t succeed every time, but eventually, I realised that simply asking a question is engaging way more than 99% of the audience. It doesn’t have to be a good question, just accustom yourself to asking them, even when there is lots of people around. I think another aspect of what makes good questions is the simplicity, yet complexity of a question. Often, the best questions are simple on surface level, but can address a myriad of vastly complex and interrelated issues. When asking questions, you don’t want it to be too broad so that the answer is discursive. You must find the sweet spot where the question is not overly-specific, but can still generate a reasonably concise and insightful answer. Listen intently to the person you wish to question, so that you can formulate your ideas with accuracy and fervour. A Harvard Business School study found that by asking questions, we naturally improve our emotional intelligence, in turn making us better questioners. In line with the socratic method, the first step in becoming a better questioner is simply to ask more questions. Tim Ferriss’ book gave me another glimpse at this - between his podcasts (in which he is often praised for asking great questions) and ‘Tribe of Mentors’, amongst other similar books like ‘Tools of Titans’. What fascinated me about the book is that over 100 successful people in their fields are asked the exact same 11 questions. Over the near 600 pages, you begin to see concurrent patterns and viewpoints between different people, as well as fascinating answers. The questions were particularly good.