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

What would we really like to do?
Their story is well known. They met in seventh-grade gym class, where, by
their own admission, they were the “slowest, fattest kids in the class.” In high
school they became best buds. Jerry attended Oberlin College. Ben started out at
Colgate, before dropping out. Jerry thought about medical school but went into
pottery. Both liked to eat. They considered going into the bagel business but the
equipment cost far more than they had, which was just about nothing. So they
decided to make ice cream. And with that, Ben & Jerry’s was born.
With only a $5 correspondence course in ice cream making under their belts,
they weren’t exactly in line for the Forbes 100. What they did have, however,
were deeply shared values and goals. Pretty simple ones. In their book, Ben &
Jerry’s Double-Dip, they wrote, “We wanted to have fun, we wanted to earn a
living, and we wanted to give something back to the community.”
What values do we bring to the enterprise?
They opened their first store in Shelburne, Vermont, in 1978. By 1990 they
had grown into an iconic brand known for quality products and a distinctive
voice. They built the company around values. They sought ideas from
employees through companywide surveys. They asked about the product, the
workplace, and their causes.
How do we incorporate values into our work and activities?
Ben and Jerry translated their values into public actions. They launched a
foundation to support community causes and devised a compensation model that
initially capped the bosses’ pay at no more than five times the lowest
employees’. They championed a string of public causes, emblazoned on every
pint of ice cream: 1% for Peace (1988); Take a Stand for Children (1992); Rock
the Vote (2004); GMO? Thanks, but NO (2013), to name a few. Though the
company has changed since Ben and Jerry actually owned and ran the place, it
has retained a good bit of its DNA. The company still asks its employees those
survey questions.
If you want to launch an enterprise, go into partnership, or start a values-

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driven business, ask mission questions to test commitment and direction.
How does the idea reflect your values?
Will others find this worthy?
What’s the bumper sticker higher calling?
Can you define roles and will people want to fill them?
Maybe you’ll discover the next Cherry Garcia.
What Brings You Here?
At the upscale end of the corporate spectrum, questions are effective tools in
defining purpose and motivating mission. I learned how powerful they could be
from Diana Oreck, who was working for Ritz-Carlton at the time we met. She
explained how the company uses questions to imbue its employees with its “gold
standard” ethic.
We ran into one another on one of those packed flights that prompts
commiseration among strangers about survival instincts and contortionist skills.
Our conversation in “economy class” turned out to be supremely ironic since
Oreck is a first-class connoisseur. She hails from the famous family that made a
fortune in vacuum cleaners. Growing up in Mexico, she often traveled with her
parents as they tended the business. They frequented fine hotels and young
Diana fell in love with the glamour and mystique of the fanciest, most exotic
places they stayed—the ones with ornate lobbies and mysterious people from
around the world. If they stayed long enough, she found that staff became
family. The adventure was thrilling. She went into the hotel business, leaving
vacuums to the relatives.
Ritz-Carlton owns more than eighty hotels in twenty-six countries. With
revenue of more $3 billion a year, the hotels employ 38,000 people. Their goal is
to dominate the luxury hospitality business and create genuine brand loyalty in
their well-heeled customers. In this super-competitive world, Oreck told me,
visitors expect service that goes above and beyond.
“If you have a satisfied customer, you’ve only met their needs. In this
environment that’s not enough. You need to exceed expectations.” The customer
can’t be just a transaction and a “head in a bed.” There has to be something
more.
Oreck trained Ritz-Carlton managers and staff to understand and share the

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mission so they could fulfill it. Committed to “unique and memorable”
experiences that will turn guests into “customers for life,” the company wants to
create an experience that “enlivens the senses, instills well-being, and fulfills
even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.”
What defines us?
What do we stand for?
How do we deliver on the promise?
At staff meetings and other gatherings, employees are asked about their ideas
and suggestions, their successes and failures. They’re encouraged to tell stories
—the good, the bad, and the unbelievable. They act out hypothetical scenarios to
see if they’re living up to the credo that’s been drilled into them. A young couple
comes to the restaurant with a toddler. What is the first thing you say, the first
thing you do? An older couple arrives at check-in and the woman appears
stressed and angry. What do you say?
Oreck calls it “radar on, antenna up,” driven by good questions, careful
listening, and thorough training. She explained that every employee who dealt
with guests had authority to unilaterally spend, credit, or discount up to $2,000
per day to “make it right or delight.” If you’re going to build a workforce that
buys into the culture, she explained, you have to empower and engage your
employees.
“As an employee, if I have to run to the manager every time I want to help a
guest, the company is telling me I’m too stupid to help, or I’m going to give too
much away, or you as the company were joking when you said you trusted me.”
Ritz-Carlton’s training teaches employees to use their own questions to
create relationships with the guests and deliver on the mission. A guest goes up
to the concierge and asks where the gift shop is. Rather than simply directing the
customer down the hall, the concierge will, when possible, accompany the guest