Improve Your Communication Skills, 2nd Edition

• What if you became chief executive tomorrow? 
• What if I weren’t your manager? 
• What if you weren’t limited in your use of equipment? 
Examples of the second kind might include: 
• What if you weren’t limited by a budget? 
• What if customers were actually flocking to us? 
• What if you knew that you were vital to the company’s 
success? 
People are often inhibited from developing their thinking by two 
deep assumptions. One is that they are incapable of thinking well 
about something, or achieving something. The other is that they 
don’t deserve to think well or achieve. Asking good questions can 
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71 The Skills of Enquiry
help you to encourage the other person to overcome these 
inhibitors and grow as a competent thinker. 
Rationing information 
Information is power. Sometimes, as part of enquiry, you can 
supply information that will empower the speaker to think 
better. Withholding information is an abuse of your power over 
them. 
The difficulty is that giving information disrupts the dynamic 
of listening and enquiring. A few simple guidelines will help you 
to ration the information that you supply.
• Don’t interrupt
. Let the speaker finish before giving any 
new information. Don’t force information into the 
middle of their sentence. 
• Time your intervention
. Ask yourself when the most 
appropriate time might be to offer the information. 
• Filter the information
. Only offer information that you 
think will improve the speaker’s thinking. Resist the 
temptation to amplify some piece of information that is