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...]
Precision Questioning
The art of the follow-up question
As a student of Precision Questioning and Answering you have probably noticed that inquiry deepens conversations, sometimes in unexpected ways. This month we had lunch with an executive from a semiconductor company, we'll call him Ted. In the middle of our Moroccan chicken salads, Ted asked a direct, and very precise, question: "What class of problems does Precision Q+A help solve?" … [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...]
The art of questionstorming
Most of us are already familiar with brainstorming, a technique for generating new ideas as rapidly as possible, without stopping to judge or discuss them. The theory behind brainstorming is that genuinely creative ideas often look silly or useless at first, so we need tools that help us suspend disbelief and keep us focused on generating fresh ideas, one after another. … [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...]