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

Verification Questions: Are you sure? How do you know? Can you take this
information to the bank? Once you have a diagnosis, you want to be sure it’s
right. Double-check the sources and know where the information comes from.
Determine whether the people you’re relying on have an agenda or an ax to
grind. What are their qualifications? What’s their track record? Ask for an
explanation about their process and what their conclusion is based on. Consider
a second opinion. These are the corroborating questions that help you understand
the basis of the diagnosis and give you confidence that it is correct. Now you can
deal with it.
Ask Again: In the medical field, clinicians and researchers have created a
number of techniques to get patients talking and to describe their condition in
detail. By connecting symptoms and patterns to knowledge and experience, a
medical professional will be able to diagnose the problem or will order up the
right tests to take the next step toward a diagnosis. You can adapt this pattern of
questioning—describe, compare, quantify, connect—to virtually any situation
where you are trying to determine what’s wrong and why. Ask clearly and
persistently, and ask more than once.
Listen: In asking diagnostic questions, listen closely to words used to describe
the problem and its symptoms. Key in to details about where and when the
problem occurs, and actions that connect to it or seem to cause it. Listen for
patterns. Listen for detail and for the connection between the problem and
actions that seem to make it better or worse.
Try: Have a conversation with a family member who is not feeling well. Start
with open-ended questions and then get more specific. Where does it hurt? Can
you quantify it, rate it on a scale of one to ten? Does anything you do make it
better? Worse? How does the discomfort compare to previous instances when
you felt like this? If you can stay focused and keep asking, you will find it easier
to extend your attention span and drill down to determine the cause of a
problem.

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STRATEGIC QUESTIONS
You’re about to make a major decision that will affect your life, your business,
or your community. You’re considering a move, and it requires a big investment
of time, resources, and energy. Your future is on the line. Strategic questions
zoom out and look at the big picture. They ask about long-term goals, interests,
and priorities. They consider alternatives, consequences, and risks. These
questions sharpen the focus on the larger objective, the higher calling, and
clarify what it will take to get there.
The Big Question:
What are you trying to do? Why?
What difference will it make?
Start at 20,000 feet. The Oxford Dictionary defines strategic as “relating to the
identification of long-term or overall aims and interests and the means of
achieving them.” Ask whether everyone is even ready to think strategically. Ask
about the mission. What’s in play, what’s at stake, and what is the strategic,
long-range purpose or objective?