In the field of informal logic, "slippery terms" are words that mean one thing to one person and something different to another. They produce a consensus that is often an illusion, and therefore likely to fall apart. With long-time colleagues, the depth of shared context or background is usually enough to keep our meanings aligned. But when we work with people we don't know well, and we add differences in expertise, language, and culture, slippery terms create errors, misunderstandings, and … [Read more...]
Meetings
The Power of Go/NoGo Questions
When meetings go wrong, the grumbling begins. The leader didn't have an agenda. The goals of the meeting weren't clear. One person monopolized the discussion. Key participants were unprepared. There were too many useless tangents. So whose job is it to fix broken meetings? … [Read more...]
How to soften impact without losing precision
Suppose we are meeting with a customer to understand their requirements for a solution to a complex problem we are trying to solve for them. As Precision Questioners, going into the situation we know two things: once we understand the big picture, most of our questions will need to be precise, and we will often need to ask follow-ups. In a situation like this, there's a third parameter. When a working relationship isn't firmly established, it's also important to preserve rapport and perhaps even … [Read more...]
Sharpening your answering skills
In the Precision Questioning workshop we often describe PQ as a way of learning how to get the question out of our mind and into our mouth. The challenge is making this happen at the speed of discussion. If we are too slow to formulate our question, then the opportunity is lost, or we end up asking a question that is poorly formulated. … [Read more...]
Category Review – Questions of Clarification
Clarification is one of the seven categories of analytical questions that constitute the Precision Questioning Toolkit—the category focused on meanings of the words, concepts, and data that we encounter in our work. Asking clarification questions is a simple but effective way to improve your understanding and your work efficiency. Unfortunately, clarification questions are often the ones that people think are the “stupid questions.” Imagine this: You’re sitting in a meeting and someone says: “If … [Read more...]