We’ve all heard the old adage “innovate or die.” A few years ago, Angèle Beausoleil, an Assistant Professor who teaches innovation at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Sauder School of Business, wrote, “Organizations that don’t keep up with their customers’ needs will die. This provocative and incentivizing statement has led many firms to dive into the innovation process.”[1] She adds, “Unfortunately, most jump in without first asking why, how, or what they are seeking to change. Asking the right question at the right time is critical to succeed at innovation adoption.” But who should be asking questions? The correct answer is: everyone. That observation is not new. A survey commissioned four years ago by Kaspersky, and conducted the market research agency Savanta, found that most business leaders understand that everyone should be involved in innovation. The survey concluded, “As many as 88% of innovation leaders agree that successful organizations encourage innovation at every level and within every team.”[2] Here’s the bad news: “Only16% of companies include ‘empowering individuals’ as an essential part of their corporate culture.” One way to empower individuals is to teach them how to ask good questions. Albert Einstein once said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I knew the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

The importance of asking good questions

Journalist Lydia Dishman believes that too often employees are discouraged from asking questions. As a result, she writes, employees get the feeling that they aren’t supposed to ask too many questions. They are simply supposed to play it safe and get things done. She adds, “Both research and thought leadership suggest the opposite. Especially now.”[3] Like Beausoleil, Dishman insists, “Asking the right questions at the right time is essential. … In day-to-day operations, leaders who ask questions are more likely to succeed.” She points to the work of Hal Gregersen, former executive director of the MIT Leadership Center. She explains, “He recommends attempting to generate at least 50 questions about a problem. Most people get stuck about halfway through. ‘I have watched this a hundred times around the world,’ he said. ‘People say: “I don’t have any more questions, I am stuck.” Keep going, because it’s that pass forward that can sometimes give you some of the greatest questions.’ Like brainstorming, but better, Gregersen maintains that ‘question storming’ will get you closer to asking the right questions that will give you the answer you need.”

The staff at MasterClass writes, “Good questions are to the point, open-ended, and clear in their intent. To ask a good question, you need a mixture of curiosity, personal clarity of thought, and emotional intelligence (especially if you plan to ask incisive and tough questions). You need a general idea of what information you require as well as the ability to adapt to the information a person gives you in response to your initial question. Knowing how to ask good questions is an essential aspect of business communication.”[4] So, how do you teach employees to ask good questions?

Teaching employees to ask good questions

Elizabeth Perry, a career coach manager at BetterUp, reminds us, “Not everyone knows how to ask good questions. While it seems an easy enough concept, asking good questions is a craft that takes time and effort to perfect. … Good questions get right to the point. They’re concise and descriptive but not too wordy. When you ask a good question, the person you’re talking to understands exactly what you mean.”[5] The MasterClass staff insists good questions share three traits. They are:

1. Clarity: “While there might be no such thing as a ‘wrong question,’ there certainly are unclear ones. To refine your personal question-asking, do your best to ask for whatever you need with as much clarity as possible. When you ask clear questions, you’re more likely to get clear answers, and you can utilize those clear answers to make mutual decision-making more efficient and effective, too.”

2. Conciseness: “As you go through the list of questions you hope to ask, try to phrase them in as succinct a way as possible.”

3. Openness: “Answering questions is as much of an art as asking them in many cases, so allow the respondent the leeway to reply as they best see fit.”

Many experts advise steering clear of “why” questions during personal conversations; however, in a business setting, “why” questions are essential. One well-known technique is called the “5 Whys.” Jonathan Hancock, an editor at Mind Tools, explains, “Sakichi Toyoda, the Japanese industrialist, inventor, and founder of Toyota Industries, developed the 5 Whys technique in the 1930s. It became popular in the 1970s, and Toyota still uses it to solve problems today. … You can use 5 Whys for troubleshooting, quality improvement, and problem solving, but it is most effective when used to resolve simple or moderately difficult problems.”[6] The first why question is: “Why is the problem occurring?” Hancock notes, “Search for answers that are grounded in fact: they must be accounts of things that have actually happened, not guesses at what might have happened.” Hancock continues, “For each of the answers that you generated [from the first question], ask four further ‘whys’ in succession. Each time, frame the question in response to the answer you’ve just recorded.” During this type of exercise, your team should consider questions like: What sequence of events leads to the problem? What conditions allow the problem to occur? What other problems surround the occurrence of the central problem?

In addition to teaching employees how to ask better questions — and encouraging them to do so — employers should also advise workers where those questions should be directed. Asking the right question to the wrong person isn’t going to achieve desired results.

Concluding Thoughts

Workers on the front line of a company’s operations are the first people who will sense that something could be done better. When they ask why things are currently done the way they are, answer that question with a question. How would you do it? If the employee isn’t sure how to answer that question, start asking questions that will help them clarify their concerns. Such questions will not only demonstrate that you are taking them seriously but will likely result in improvements in your operation. Marc Vollebregt, founder of AVEC, writes, “I think the ability to ask good questions is hugely underrated.”[7] He adds, “Don’t be afraid to look stupid, and ask that naive question! The answer that you get differs a lot of times from the answer that you thought you’d get. And once you know what’s really going on, you’ll be a lot smarter than the people acting on wrong information.”

Footnotes
[1] Angèle Beausoleil, “Made by humans: A recipe for innovation,” The Conversation, 9 April 2018.
[2] Staff, “Bottom-up innovation is near the bottom of modern corporate values,” Kaspersky Press Release, 16 November 2020.
[3] Lydia Dishman, “Asking these types of questions will make you look smarter,” Fast Company, 14 January 2024.
[4] Staff, “How to Ask Questions: 7 Tips for Asking Good Questions,” MasterClass, 6 May 2022.
[5] Elizabeth Perry, “Learn how to ask good questions to keep the conversation going,” BetterUp Blog, 30 January 2023.
[6] Jonathan Hancock, “5 Whys,” Mind Tools.
[7] Marc Vollebregt, “A Quick Guide To Asking Better Questions,” Medium, 16 December 2019.