Ask More: The Power of Questions to Open Doors, Uncover Solutions, and Spark Change pdfdrive com

parts of the process. We were frustrated. One afternoon shortly after the surgery,
I stopped Dr. Blue Eyes in the hallway. Standing a few doors down from Mom’s
room, we spoke in low voices. Short questions prompted short answers. I was
tired and anxious. I recall the conversation going something like this:
“Where do you think this is headed?”
As he’d said before, the surgery had gone well. Chemo would be next. He’d
be monitoring her closely.
“But … what should we expect?”
“Every patient is different,” he said.
“I understand that,” I responded, “but you must have some idea of what this
is going to look like.”
“You can’t predict.”
I didn’t want him to predict, just to tell us what Mom was up against and
how he felt it would play out, based on his experience and her condition.
I turned the question around.
“Look, if this were your mother, wouldn’t you want to know? Wouldn’t you
be asking these same questions?”
The doctor took a breath and considered for a moment. He spoke slowly and
deliberately.
“Typically, patients will go through cycles,” he said. “Surgery and the first
chemotherapy give her some breathing room.”
“How much?” I asked.
“Usually eighteen months or so. But then the cancer can return.”
“Then what?”
“We try another round of chemotherapy and see how that works. Generally,
that knocks the cancer down for another six months or so.
“And?”
“We keep going. We find the drug that works best. Ideally, we manage the
disease like other chronic illnesses.” He said that the impact of the chemo often
diminishes over time.
“How long can this go on?” I asked.
He hesitated. “The most common is about four years. But there are
exceptions. It can go well. Some patients can live very long lives.” We hoped

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Mom would be one of them.
That little Q&A with Dr. Blue Eyes still plays in my head. I had done some
research and I knew generally what we were up against. But I could tell this was
going to be even harder than we had anticipated. We needed the doctor’s insight.
We wanted to know what he knew. We also wanted to make clear that we were
totally engaged and expected to be fully informed. This had to be a partnership
and we were entitled to ask.
What’s happening?
How do you know?
Have you seen this before?
What else aren’t you telling us?
Would you say this to your mother?
It can be intimidating to question the expert. But effective advocacy requires
tough questioning. Whether it’s your mother or your business, your body or your
roof, write out a list of questions and don’t let up until every one of them is
addressed. Write out a list of questions and don’t let up until every one of them
is addressed. If the specialist you’ve chosen can’t or won’t answer your
questions, see that as a red flag, a clear sign that you need to get a second (or
third) opinion. Ask more until you’re comfortable that you understand the
problem and the pros and cons of each possible solution.
After the Diagnosis, the Strategy
Al Darby, Steve Miller, and Teresa Gardner lead very different lives, but they all
use diagnostic inquiry to identify and solve problems. They question with open
ears. They ask why the problem exists and where it comes from. They look for
bad news. They ask about the past as well as the present. They work under
pressure. They listen for detail, and they seek a cure.
That’s how Teresa became well known. She was profiled on 60 Minutes, the
longest-running TV magazine show in America, with an audience of more than
10 million television watchers and millions more online. The story showed her
driving her beat-up old Winnebago through Appalachia, asking her questions to
treat her treasured “human train wrecks.” It revealed the dimension of the
problem and her commitment to address it. The attention was more than she
bargained for, but speaking invitations and donations followed and Teresa

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finally got a new Winnebago Health Wagon.
Diagnostic questions identify a problem, a cause, and a response and take
you to the next level:
Now what?
What’s the risk associated with the treatment?
What should we be watching for?
Steve Miller thinks CEOs should lie awake at night asking what’s-gone-
wrong questions so they can move on to the really big questions.
Are we in the right business?
Are we looking forward?
Do we fully envision the problems and opportunities ahead?
Do we stand for the right values?
Do we have a sustainable business model?
Whether you are a Wall Street tycoon, a nurse practitioner in Appalachia or
anything in between, only after you diagnose the situation can you move to the
next level of inquiry, where you set your sights and ask about long-range
challenges and opportunities in pursuit of an ambitious goal.

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