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Power of Questions
- You will get answers to the questions that you ask

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• Why should we ask questions?
• Why people are hesitant to ask?
• Underused Management Tool
• Building a Questioning Culture
• Ask Questions in a Right Way
• Questions we should as ourselves
• Questions Leaders should ask themselves
• Methods of Questioning
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Agenda

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• Most of the times we live with Assumptions/Cognitive Biases
• You won’t get answers unless you ask
• Story of a cat & some rituals
• Superstitious beliefs ( blind beliefs):
• Cat brings bad luck in India, but it’s a pet in other countries.
• If a person sneezes when starting anything, will invite bad luck
• People don't shave, get a haircut or cut their nails on Tuesday or Saturday believing
that it will invite bad luck
• Widows are considered inauspicious in many parts of India
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Assumptions, Blind Beliefs etc.

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Count the dots
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5.
• You will get answers to the questions that you ask
• Removes assumptions
• Stimulates thinking - Inspire Creativity & Innovation
• Get answers & solutions
• Engage and Influence ( Develop Others)
• Eg: How can we reduce the response times
• Puts us in control
• Reframes the problem.
• Can get to the heart of the real issue.
• Improve decision-making
• Buying a car
• Place 100 different types orders for testing
• Might prevent a production outage
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Why should we ask questions?

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• We take people for granted
• Family Members
• Team Members
• Helps to improve a relationship
• Self retrospection
• Be a better YOU
• Motivate Ourselves
The Future belongs to the CURIOUS. The ones who are
not afraid to TRY it. Explore it.
QUESTION it.
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Why should we ask questions? (Continued…)

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• Just for the sake of asking
• To dominate other people
• Eliminate the dominance from your questions.
• To prove your skills
• To look great among others
• To trouble other person
• Add Humility but not Humiliation to your questions.
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Why we shouldn’t ask questions?

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• Thinking that it’s a Dumb question
• Fear of looking incompetent
• Worried about their communication skills
• Afraid of lead/manager.
• Thinking that I am not supposed to ask questions
• Social Restrictions, Cultural differences
• Attitude:
• I know everything.
• I am better than you. Why should I ask you 
• If I start asking questions, you will be HERO & I will be ZERO 
• Ego 
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Why majority people don’t ask Questions?

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• Fear of an unwanted answers
• We are too often in a rush
• Lack of skills in asking questions
• Corporate culture can discourage questions
• Inability to see others’ perspectives
• Our desire to protect ourselves
• Leaders protect their credibility; followers protect themselves by not
challenging the leader
• Leading with questions requires a change of mindset (“resist
the impulse to provide solutions”)
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Underused Management Tool

10.
• Story of “White Dots on Road”
• “White dots” are the things we do because we have always, done them that way and never
questioned why.
• They may have been done to cover up a mistake or perhaps there was once a valid reason
• Organizations/Teams /People that continue to do things the way they have always
been done become irrelevant and less effective
• In Business or War stagnation means Death
• Example:
• Smith Corona, a company that made typewriters before it went out of business during the personal
computer revolution
• Instead of asking how to build a better typewriter, they should have asked, “what is the nature of our
business,” and “how do we best position ourselves for the future?”
• Answering Right Questions will achieve Long Term Success
So, create an environment where people feel free to
ask RIGHT questions
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Need of Building a Questioning Culture

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• Don’t tell, Do Ask:
• If people are always told what to do & how to do, they become reluctant to ask questions.
• They become less efficient without they realizing it.
• So don’t do spoon feeding
• Develop the skills to ask questions in a positive manner.
• Emphasize questions, not answers.
• Willing to admit when you don’t know.
• Don’t punish the people who ask hard questions.
• Make sure everyone should be able to freely ask a question.
• Get inspiration from Kids 
• Never Settle till you are convinced
A questioning culture is determined by the types of questions
the leaders ask and by the freedom with which their
subordinates ask questions of their leaders
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How to Build a Questioning Culture

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• Culture of telling instead of asking
• Collection of YES Men
• Rumors
• Psychological safety is required for people.
• Leaders should play active role
• People’s Expertise
• Experts don’t ask questions, they will answer - Myth
• The more people are considered experts, the less likely they want to appear
as if they are not
• Pressure to know all answers
• Status or Role
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Challenges in Building a Questioning Culture

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• Treat questions as an opportunity to learn & grow instead of
treating them as challenge to your authority.
• Set the example by asking thought-provoking questions and
encourage the same.
• People are open to those who are open to them.
• Use appropriate body language & tone
• Listen carefully & show genuine interest.
• Admit if you don’t know the answer, never lie.
• Strictly avoid Judging questions & Disempowering questions.
• People asking probing, thought-provoking questions shouldn’t
be seen as threats
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Leadership Role…

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• Closed Ended:
• Might be answered with Yes or No
• Very limited possible answers
• Open Ended:
• Allow someone to give a free-form answer.
• Gives you more information
• Make best use of them in One-on-One meetings so that people will open up.
Examples:
• Are you happy with the work?
• Can you please explain me what you like and what you don’t like
• How is your weekend
• What did you do on weekend?
• Can we meet deadlines?
• What can stop us in meeting deadlines and how can we over come?
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Types of Questions

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A good question might give you bad results if
you ask in a wrong way
• How many times do you miss dead lines?
• What help you need from me, so that as a team we meet our deadline?
• I want you to do this?/You should do this.
• What do you think we should do?
• Can I do it better
• How can I do it better?
• Do what you do even better; Do more of what you do.
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Asking a Right Question Ask in a right way

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• Why are you always failing in subjects and others are passing
• What kind of help I can give to my son so that he will get better grades?
• Why are you always angry on me?
• Did I hurt you? I am sorry
• I hope everything is going well in the team?
• What do you think we can improve in the team? How can I help you?
• Why I am always a failure?
• What is that I can learn from this, so that I wont do the same mistake?
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Ask in a right way …

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• Am I interested in myself and organization’s growth?
• Am I having fun at work?
• Am I creating a healthy atmosphere?
• Some one is wrong isn’t an excuse for us to be wrong
• Am I taking new initiatives?
• Am I completing tasks on time?
• Am I adding value to myself?
• How to raise the bar when people are settling up for mediocre
performance?
• Am I living to my fullest potential?
• Am I utilizing my TODAY?
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Questions we should ask ourselves

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• Am I providing a healthy, competitive, growth to my team?
• Am I genuinely interested in people?
• Good Reason
• Real Reason
• Am I listening properly Or Am I in a hurry to tell others what I want to tell?
• Am I adding value to the team?
• Am I lifting the team Or the Team is lifting me?
• Am I approachable to team members?
• Not enough to tell that my door Is always open.
• Am I inspiring people?
• Do I have proper vision?
• Do I know the Positives & Negatives of the team?
• Am I passionate?
• Leader’s Passion is Contagious
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Questions Leaders should ask themselves

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1. 5 Why’s
2. Fishbone / Ishikawa diagrams
3. Guessing One Factor at a Time
4. SCAMPER method
5. Socratic Method
6. CATWOE Analysis
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Methods of Questioning

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• 5 Whys – Root cause analysis and problem solving
• Repetitive question asking technique
• Don’t fix the symptom instead fix the root cause.
• It will help you to go to the heart of the problem and fix it.
• Steps:
• Write down the problem clearly
• Ask why the problem occurred?
• If you don’t get thorough answer, ask “Why” again.
• Repeat it until you get the Root Cause of the problem.
• Some times you might need to ask “Why” for more/less than 5 times

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5 Whys

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Book: Good Leaders ask Great Questions – John
Maxwell
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References & Credits

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Questions?
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Thank you 
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