Timestamps

00:00:00: Introduction

00:01:26: Questions help us to unlock new knowledge

00:02:00: Idea for action 1: two hacks for asking open questions

00:02:51: Idea for action 2: the four different types of questions

00:06:22: Go-to guru

00:06:30: Relevant podcast episode

00:06:38: Final thoughts

Interview Transcription

Sarah Ellis: Hi, I'm Sarah.

Helen Tupper: And I'm Helen.

Sarah Ellis: And you're listening to the Squiggly Careers podcast.  This episode is part of our Skills Sprint series.  We've recorded 20 episodes, each less than seven minutes long, that we hope are going to help you to build some career development momentum. 

In every episode, we talk about a Squiggly Skill, what it is and why it matters, share an idea for action each, and give you a go-to guru and a podcast episode so you can learn more.  And we want you to turn your skills sprint into a learning streak.  And so for everyone who completes a 20-day learning streak, we'll be offering you a free Five Skills to Succeed in a Squiggly Career virtual workshop in September.  If you post about your progress on social and tag us @amazingif, and we'll be in touch to tell you more.

Helen Tupper: This sprint is all about the skill of questioning.  And sometimes, I think people just take questions as a skill as a given, like we all ask questions.  But actually, it is something that we can invest and improve as a skill for our Squiggly Careers, and it is one that when we do, when we get really good at it, it has lots of big benefits for our careers. 

So, better questions help us to understand ourselves more, so increases our self-awareness, it also helps us to understand other people too.  It means that we're better able to get unstuck from situations that might feel complicated or complex, lots of the things that we might find a bit messy in a Squiggly Career; the ability to question ourselves helps us sort of navigate through that. It also means we unlock new knowledge.  Somebody once said to me in an interview, actually, someone very senior at Microsoft, we were just having a debate about learning and knowledge, which was great -- of course it was great. 

I was like, "This is going to be the right company for me!"  But I remember that we were talking about when you ask someone questions, you're creating space for new knowledge.  It's almost in that unlocking that curiosity that you're allowing new knowledge to be formed.  So, these are really big benefits.  Awareness, getting unstuck, getting new knowledge are big, big foundational things that enable us to succeed in Squiggly Careers.

Sarah Ellis: So, our first idea for action here is a simple one but one that sometimes I think we forget, or it's also easy to get wrong, and that is to ask ourselves and each other open questions.  So, a couple of hacks here to make sure that you do this, the five Ws and the one H: who, what, where, why, when and how; and TED: tell, explain, describe.  I still sometimes find myself asking a closed question, "Did you enjoy that podcast today?"  That's a closed question, yes or no. 

Every time I do that, I just re-ask the question in an open way and it feels like a different question.  So, if someone said, "Yeah, great episode", then I would say, "Oh, what was it that you particularly enjoyed?" and then you get some useful insight, you get some data for your development, you learn something new. So, if you do spot yourself asking a closed one, never panic, just got to re-ask it and it will always feel different.

Helen Tupper: And the second idea for action that we've got is taken from one of the free toolkits on our website, amazingif.com, which is all about different types of questions.  And there are four different types of questions that you can ask, and it is useful to reflect on which one of these do you do well and which one would you like to do more of. So, the four questions.  First of all, there's an elevating question, which is really good for zooming out.  It's things like, "What's the why behind the work?" you're really kind of taking a slightly bigger view of what you're doing.  There's the funnelling questions; those ones are all about zooming in.  That's sort of, "What data do we have about this thing that we're trying to do?"  Or, "Who have we spoken to about this project or this process?" 

The third type are adjoining questions; they're really, really helpful for connecting the dots.  I guess they're more about breadth and depth so, "How will this thing impact that team?" for example.  And the last one is a clarifying question; these are really good for getting to shared understanding, which can lead to greater commitment so, "Can you describe that a little bit more?  Can you share the key objective for this thing that we're working on today?" those things that really align everybody. So, Sarah, which one do you do well and which one would you like to try out and do a bit more of?

Sarah Ellis: So, I'm a natural elevator, so I love a zoomed-out question.  And one of the things I have to watch out for there is sometimes zoomed-out questions can feel confrontational. 

So, if Helen describes something to me and I say to her, "So, why are we working on that?" or, "How does that connect to our team goals?" sometimes it can feel like a question where you're implying that should have already been done, which is never my intention.  So, I'm always very careful because I am naturally a zoom-out questioner, but I will always think about how do I ask that question in a way that is supportive, but they are the ones that I'm good at.

In terms of what I would like to improve, I think I have started over the last year to ask more funnelling questions, so the opposite of zooming out; zooming in.  So, rather than just assuming something is right, actually asking more questions around things like data.  So, rather than just thinking, "This is a great idea", like, "What data do we have to support that this is a great idea?" or, "What have we learned so far about the most popular podcast episodes from what we know are the most listened to ones?"  So, I think I've started to zoom in more, which is helping me to just challenge myself in terms of things like priorities for our team and priorities for you and I.  But I have to think about that one a bit more, it doesn't come as naturally.  What about you?

Helen Tupper: First of all, I've definitely seen you doing those, I think you're doing it really well.  And mine are slightly different.  So, I think I'm a natural clarifier, because I want to understand the detail and how it works.  I like to move forward with clarity and create clarity for other people, so I think that one just feels easy and natural for me. 

I think I'm more consciously trying to do the adjoining, connecting-the-dots questions.  So, in the past, Sarah and I might have committed to something without really thinking through what's the impact on the resource, what might we need to say no to.  And so, I'm trying, when we move things forward, to make sure I ask some questions that help us to connect the dots, how will that impact somebody else, how will that impact the project that we're doing. 

And again, I think they can feel confrontational if it's not your natural style, but I definitely see the benefit of it when I see other people doing those questions.  So it's just to think about stretching your questioning skills.

Sarah Ellis: Also, if you're smart, you'll spot what kinds of questions you're typically going to get asked from different people.  Helen never fails to ask me a clarifying question, so I just know that it's coming. 

And I think that's the same actually in a few organisations and teams I've worked with.  So our go-to guru here is Tom Pohlmann and Neethi Mary Thomas, who wrote a brilliant article in Harvard Business Review called Re-learning the Art of Asking Questions.  And if you'd like to learn a bit more by listening to another podcast episode, number 216 is all about How to Ask Better Questions.

Helen Tupper: Thank you for listening to this Skills Sprint, we hope you found it useful.  We would love you to subscribe so you don't miss any of the sprint episodes in this series, and also to let us know how you're getting on, tagging us in your posts.  But that is all for this episode, so bye for now.

Sarah Ellis: Bye everyone.