Ask more creative questions

One of the best ways for leaders to wield influence is by asking questions.

One challenge is “how do I come up with useful, creative questions?”

Here are 6 categories of useful questions that lead to more creative discussion.

• When asking a split tracking question, you play back multiple ideas and focus the conversation on one. For example, “I hear X and Y – which should we focus on first?”
• When asking a blur question, you clarify an ambiguous concept. For example, “What does ‘as soon as possible’ actually mean to you?”
• When asking a scaling question, you talk about how to change the intensity by one notch. For example, “on a scale of 1-10, what is it?” followed by “what would it take to move from a 6 to a 7?”
• When asking a reasoning question, you ask people to explain their reasoning. For example, “what led you to think that” or “what is important about that.”⊕ Note that it is dangerous to use why in a question here, since it can feel judgemental.
  
  
• When asking a need forward question, you replay a person idea in a positive framing. For example, “how might we” or “so you need.”
• When asking a next step question, you focus on an incremental concrete action. For example, “what is the smallest next step” or “what can you do in the 5 minutes after the meeting?”