Asking the *Right* Questions to Get the *Right* Answers
August 16, 2010 by Cat Matson
By Cat Matson, Alito
We ask and answer questions all day, every day. “How are you?” “How was your weekend?” “How’s business going?”
Most of these questions call for superficial, polite answers – “Well thanks”; “Great, how was yours?” and my favourite “Really busy”. 
Different types of questions, of course, need to be asked if we’re going to get meaningful answers. Women have long learned NOT to ask ‘What are you thinking?’ of their men if they want an insight into their mind … but have we learned to ask the ‘right’ questions of ourselves when it comes to our business?
Performance questions are essential to ask on a regular basis:
- What was our revenue this period?
- What was our profit?
- What was our return on time, effort and financial investments?
- What are the trends?
And then to maximise the power of those questions, you need to ask:
- Is that good enough?
- If yes, how do we maintain or improve that performance?
- If not, what needs to happen differently?
- How do we do it differently?
It’s also useful to ask personal effectiveness questions:
- What will I do more of?
- What will I do less of?
- What will I stop doing?
It’s also important to have the right questions asked of you by other people. One of the most valuable aspects of working with a thoughtful business advisor, mentor or colleague is the insights gained from answering the ‘right’ questions. These are the questions that go beyond the transactional ‘what, where and when’ but push through questions of ‘why, how and what if?’
I’m curious … what is the best business question you’ve ever answered? What insights did you gain, and why was it such a potent question?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
- What Every Business Plan Should Have (But Most are Missing)
- Half-Time Address
- Can a Mumpreneur Really Crush It? 5 Tips to Myself.
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Cat Matson - Alito
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| Phone: | 07 3289 7055 |
| Email: | cat@alito.com.au |
| Website: | www.alito.com.au |
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Agree totally Cat. As an experienced coach, one of the main things I do is ask my clients the *right* questions to help them move ahead in their business and personal life. Listening to their answers and listening also to what they’re *not* saying can be very enlightening.
I’d like to see a set of questions added to your list around Personal Development:
– What new skills / experiences have I learned this week?
– What strengths can I draw on? What development needs do I have?
– How satisfied am I feeling with my life right now?
Flipping to the other side of the coin to answer your questions. One of the best questions I’ve been asked and it was very recent was;
– Is this a business or a hobby?
My initial reaction was “of course it’s a business” but when I was pushed further about the opportunity cost of running my business versus “getting a job”, it made me realise that while I thought I was running a business, I was in fact having a lovely time doing something I enjoy – a hobby! Since that question was asked, I’ve taken a much more commercial approach and am making different decisions.
This is excellent, Cat. Thank you.
The question that I would add – one of the most useful questions I’ve ever been asked in business – is…
“What are you going to do about it?”
So many times, I’ve heard good questions asked with great answers given, but then no action was taken to change things or capitalize on the new insights.
“What are you going to do about it?” separates knowledge acquisition and information gathering from actual improved performance.
Love Suellen’s input.
Best, Robin
Best business question and why is it such a potent question?
“Is what you’re doing NOW contributing to your vision?
If not, re-prioritize so you are -
Once an hour – Stop, Check… Are you?”
When I stop asking myself this I usually find myself way off course ~ sometimes even lost at sea in a squall ~
Its all too easy to do the busy stuff that keeps you tacking this way and that instead of doing the important things that’ll really take you forward ~
The quality of your focus and as Robin says above, the raw ability ‘to do’ shapes the quality of your business
*The* best question that clients ask me is this: “Can we do ?”
The reason for this is that it shows that they have thought about *what* their goal is, and these clients are oft the best to work with.
Answering that type of question draws on experiance, knowledge and an understanding of our products and services. Sometimes these questions are the hardest to answer, especially when the client asks for something that isn’t available in a shrink-wrapped off-the-shelf product. They are also the most enjoyable to answer.
Suellen, Robin & Linda … thank you for such potent contributions to this post.
Suellen – yes, that question as to whether your ‘venture’ is a hobby or a business is one of my favourites … and quite sobering for many. Either answer is ok … a different approach is then required if one determines it is a hobby when before they had been calling it a business.
Robin, likewise, the question of ‘what are you going to do about it’ is another great one … it elicits a very high level of personal responsibility and accountability.
And finally Linda, you, as always, are perfectly on track … and regularly questioning the value of your time investment is a powerful way to stay focussed throughout your day.
I wonder what the next question will be?
I think we need to be careful that it is not all about ‘me me me’ and ‘greed greed greed’.
Good questions to ask are : ‘Have I listened to the needs of my staff this week?’; ‘Have I stopped to actually look in the face of at least one staff member and asked if they have any problems?’; ‘Have I done anything meaningful to contribute to my community?’.
Otherwise, we have lost our basic humanity, like so much of the business world.
Your vision needs to be broader than just making money.