I learned long ago that the best answer to almost any question is another question. Not only does it force you to think deeper about the issue at hand, more importantly, it almost always challenges current assumptions. The best leaders I know make an art of asking questions; to them, a great question is the one that leads to otherquestions. Not long ago, I was at a board meeting with a high growth technology company when the CEO started to discuss the upcoming year’s product roadmap. He inspired us with his vision and convinced us of the imminent changes ahead, but it wasn’t until the elder statesman of board asked the question “what’s likely not to change during that period?” that we all agreed to narrow our focus.
MIT Professor of Management Emeritus, Edgar Schein understands leadership and organizational culture like no other; and in his latest book – Humble Inquiry, he’ll convince you to do less telling; start asking better questions, and become a superb listener. You’ll see that the social art of asking a question starts with this.