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

Supper with Socrates: What is success? Do you need success to be successful?
Is success always good? Is it a virtue?
Pick an issue or an attribute. Ask a series of poignant questions to pick it
apart, define, and debate it. Challenge conventional wisdom, standing
definitions, and just about anything that people take for granted. Ask what is
true, how we know, why we care. Steer people away from the personal or
anecdotal and toward fact, reason, and experience. This could go deep—or just
plain exasperate. So keep the conversation focused, bringing participants back to
the core questions. This is some of the most thought-provoking stuff you can
serve up.
Laugh: What’s your most embarrassing experience? If you could erase one day
in your life, which day … and why? If you made a commercial, what would you
be selling?
Questions that point at ourselves show that we don’t take ourselves so
seriously. Asking for the funniest, weirdest, or most unexpected can prompt a
laugh or entertain a crowd.
Listen: These questions can delight or they can ruin your party. Listen to keep
the conversation moving and amazing. But also listen for hints of annoyance,
resentment, or impatience. Some topics, framed the wrong way, can be
poisonous—religion, politics, money come to mind. You need the right crowd
and the right host to come in for a soft landing. Listen to determine when you
should exercise the host’s prerogative to change the subject.
Try: Select questions as you’d select a meal: appetizers, a main course, and
dessert. Make note of the interests and experiences your guests bring to the

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party. Pick your courses accordingly, starting with something light, moving into
the stuff you can sink your teeth into, and ending with something sweet. Don’t
overdo it. Let it breathe. Leave room for coffee.

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LEGACY QUESTIONS
Legacy questions ask about what we’ve done, the people we’ve touched, and the
contributions we’ve made. They can be asked every day, at every stage. They
help recognize accomplishment, express gratitude, set priorities, or fill a bucket
list. They help us recognize what is significant and what matters.