Editor’s note: Editor’s note: John Holcombe is founder of Wellspring Insights & Innovation, Miami, Fla. and blogger at TheInsightsGuy.com. This is an edited version of a post that originally appeared here under the title, “Asking good questions: the most disruptive technology we have.”
“We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong.” – Bono
I recently read an article about a new market research technology/method that “gathered better insights” than other technologies or methodologies. What a bunch of nonsense. No matter the technology or methodology you are using, research gathers only quantitative or qualitative observations (data points, facts, opinions, perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, stories, experiences, feelings).
From these we need to create context and develop insights and the most disruptive tool we have as researchers is the human question.
Have you ever noticed that great listeners also ask great questions? Great innovators and creatives also ask great questions.
Questions have a dark side, too. We’ve all experienced this – in board meetings, political exchanges, in a survey or the observation room of a focus group facility – when questions are blocking strategies: questions can be evaluative, judging, full of bias and agenda. Questions can be used to prevent the flow of ideas, to test, trap or expose. They can be used to humiliate – or on the other end of the spectrum – to kiss some major butt.
Asking good questions can help us understand an issue or point-of-view different from our own; good questions can help us be more empathetic and insightful listeners.
Ten guidelines for good questions
- Engage people. Care. Questions must be non-threatening. When a respondent is concerned about the consequences of answering a question, there is a good possibility that the answer will not be truthful. For example: “Why are you a [blank]?”would be a threatening question to many. The simple question, “Why?” is often threatening in and of itself – it makes people defensive.
- Don’t be biased. Good questions should not expect a certain state of affairs. Defer judgment and don’t assume anything.
- Don’t support an agenda. Good questions produce variability of response. Bad questions look to confirm something or test a subject.
- Do not express emotions. I saw a post on LinkedIn recently that asked, “Why do Americans hate planning?” What a bad question – it breaks all of the rules.
- Avoid jargon and vague words. Adjectives (e.g., most, least, majority) are frequently used in question yet they mean different things to different people. Similarly, using technical jargon produces confusion.
- Ask on only one dimension. No “double-barreled” questions. You hear these all the time on talk shows. The interviewer asks the actor “Do you like working on the set? What was your favorite set?” Skilled actors can quickly choose which of the two questions to answer; with regular folks, stay in one dimension.
- Use humor carefully. Humor is a great way to approach difficult topics and to build trust. Self-deprecating humor can work, too.
- Explore. Yes or no questions should be avoided. Questions that open up endless possibilities should be used. “What are all of the reasons you got into the nonprofit field?” for example, is a good example of a question that follows all of the guidelines here. Want to engage someone and show you care? Ask, “Will you please share with me the story of your life?”
- Clarify. Let’s face it, we’re all biased. So make sure you understand what they are truly talking about by asking, “So what I hear you saying is …” often.
- Use the power of silence. Want someone to elaborate, open-up and tell you more? Say nothing at all and engage with your eyes. You’ll be amazed at the nuggets that come up when people feel compelled to fill the gaps of silence.
Good questions go hand in hand with empathetic listening. Highly emphatic people have a voracious curiosity but they are not out to interrogate others – they genuinely want to understand the world inside the head of the other person. They don’t interrupt and they use the power of silence.
As Studs Terkel said, “Don’t be an examiner, be the interested inquirer.”
In other words, if your questionnaire or discussion guide feels like an inquisition rather than a conversation, you need to reconsider the types of questions you are asking.