Ask Better Questions

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” — Ram Dass

I remember meeting Doug Krug, who wrote a book called The Missing Piece of Leadership. Doug says leaders need to learn to ask better questions. I was intrigued, as I have similar beliefs. But asking questions and waiting for answers requires time and patience.

We live in a world where people and technology are moving faster and faster, we seek quick answers and solutions to complex issues. People are always saying how BUSY they are, but are unwilling to slow communication down to a conversation. Remember those, when two or more people use word coming out of their mouths to get information and understand?

Today I read a blog post about Steve Jobs, back when he was CEO of both Pixar and Apple. The leadership role was particularly challenging, because while he was spending most of his time at Apple, Jobs had to quickly assess what was going on when he was at Pixar so he could know where he needed to be putting his attention. Jobs organized sessions with various teams — the technology team, the Cars team — with a dozen in each session. He would then point to someone and say:

Tell me what’s not working at Pixar.

After they shared what was going on, he would ask others if they agreed. He would then ask:

Tell me what’s working at Pixar.

Jobs would go back and forth with the group until he felt like all the issues were on the table and he had a grasp of what was happening at Pixar. And he would run these sessions every few months. And key to his process was to never invite team leaders to these sessions, who would just hinder openness and create a feeling of intimidation.

I’ve been running an employee process like this with my clients for over ten years. I use wall templates to capture the conversation, but I keep it anonymous — it’s not important WHO said it, but it is important that people feel like someone’s listening. I also ask “what’s working here” and “what are the issues that get in the way” and give them some categories for this, like development and communication.

And then, unlike Jobs, I involve the employees in helping to identify the most critical issues to resolve and then help come up with ideas. I make sure that leaders are aligned to help partner in creating and implementing solutions, which builds trust.

I once worked with a leader who said, “Wow, it’s amazing what you hear when you shut up and listen.”

Yep. Listening is pretty powerful. But you have to be willing to be quiet, open, and willing to hear hard stuff. And then be willing to do something about it, knowing that once you’ve really listened, others will want to help too.