“Sooner or later, like it or not, you’ll be faced with challenging questions – so why not get in the habit of asking them sooner?”
-Warren Berger

As a coach leader, I never tire of hearing those four little words, “That’s a good question.” Coaches are often asked, “How do you know what questions to ask?” That too is a good question. How can we develop and improve our ability to question? How can we rekindle that questioning spark that we had at age four?

Many of us may have stopped asking questions because we were taught that it isn’t polite. Or perhaps we don’t ask because questioning just became too inefficient. Our work, our world, demands quick answers, rather than probing questions. Another reason may be that we ourselves don’t know the answers. What would be the impact on our organizations if our leaders were uncertain of all the answers?

Being comfortable with not knowing the answer is the first step toward being able to question. Being a coach has enabled me to ask what I refer to as the “naive question.” The 2013 TED Prize winner, Sugata Mitra, refers to the naive question as ‘the question of the grandmother’: “How did you do that?” “How did you know that would work?” “What is the most important thing for me to know?” “How will you explain that for one who doesn’t understand?”

Paul Bennett, Director of IDEO writes in his blog, “Being comfortable with not knowing is the first part of being able to question.” He further pens, “Naiveté gives others permission to step back and rethink in ways they might not normally be comfortable doing.”

What are you doing within your organization to create an environment where it’s safe for people to ask naive questions?

By Reba Schumacher, PCC