Effective Leadership The Art of Inquiry Using Socratic Questioning
Effective Leadership The Art of Inquiry Using Socratic Questioning
Decades ago, as an undergraduate student, flipping through the course catalog pages (yes, they were printed booklets back then), I considered taking a philosophy course. However, when I sat in the first two classes of an introductory course, I decided that area of study was not for me. Why? Because there didn’t seem to be any answers.
At that point in my life, I didn’t want to rummage around in what seemed to be endless conversations that came to no clear conclusions or outcomes. (Not exactly a well-thought-through analysis.) I was eighteen at the time and thought that going to college meant that I would find clarity and answers.
Fast forward through graduate school, decades working in global corporations, and coaching executives. I’ve learned that questions are one of the most powerful tools a leader/business owner has at their disposal. Unfortunately, we frequently underestimate the power of questions. Typically, we use questions when something isn’t working, rather than a regular process for information gathering, developing insight, self-development, mentoring others, or coaching.
How often do we get frustrated because we want clear answers to business problems? Yet, as business owners or leaders, are we asking questions, asking the right questions, or asking questions of the appropriate people?
The Power of Questions
The power of questions has been explored/discussed in diverse areas such as science education, cardiac surgery, personal branding, leadership, and improving emotional intelligence. And yet, most of us don’t ask enough questions. Why? In Western culture, we are taught to be experts and that it is more important to know than not know. And heaven forbid that we admit that we don’t know.
Yet the Greek philosopher Socrates demonstrated the power of questions four centuries before the birth of Jesus. (I should have taken that course on philosophy). He asked his students tough questions, which they couldn’t immediately answer. Although he didn’t write any books, essays, or even notes of his questions and the conversations that resulted, his students wrote accounts of their dialogues with Socrates.
His questions were intended to encourage critical thinking and self-reflection. Questions such as what is justice, the nature of knowledge, and the meaning of life? Socrates also proclaimed that his ignorance was the only thing he was aware of. He implied that the road to knowledge is by admitting you don’t know. Socrates believed that true wisdom was recognizing that you know nothing.
What Gets In the Way of Asking Questions?
As I’ve thought about the nature of asking questions and their usefulness as tools, I began to wonder what gets in the way of our asking questions. After all, what better way to collect information, get to know someone, enhance communication, uncover another’s priorities and desires, stimulate creativity and innovation, and scientific research and discovery?
How can a business owner evaluate a marketing program’s effectiveness or a CRM application’s usefulness if not by asking questions? Asking the right questions can differentiate between a great hire and a future termination. Asking questions can spur innovation and creativity in a team working on a business challenge.
Why do we struggle to utilize questions effectively if questions are such powerful tools? Dr. Michael Marquardt and Bob Tiede, who authored the book Leading with Questions, How Leaders Discover Powerful Answers by Knowing How and What to Ask, state there are four reasons why it is so challenging to ask questions.
Why Leaders Don’t Ask Questions
First, there is a concern that it is risky to admit you don’t have all the answers as a leader. Depending on the family of origin, religious institutions, and the educational institutions an individual experienced, asking questions may not have been encouraged or tolerated. And who hasn’t at some point in their life asked a “dumb” question and received uncomfortable feedback (laughter, ridicule, eye-rolling, etc.)?
As a leader, you may have been socialized to know the answers. Our society often expects leaders to know the answers to challenging questions. (That’s why wise leaders surround themselves with people with different skills and knowledge.) Some leaders don’t ask questions because of fear they may not get the answers they want or uncover information that challenges their assumptions and strategies.
A second reason leaders may not ask questions is the desire for speed. Typically, people are promoted in organizations due to their ability to quickly deal with challenges and solve problems. That behavior can become a habit and a way of operating that doesn’t scale with moving up the ranks of an organization or leading a business. I’ve had to remind many leaders that there are times when one needs to slow down to be able to speed up.
Third, how many of you have been trained in questioning skills? I assume that few business owners and leaders have never taken a course on asking, identifying the right questions, and coping with the discomfort of asking (and being asked) questions. (An executive/business coach can help identify the right questions and help address the awkwardness of questions.)
And lastly, a critical aspect of asking questions of people in your organization is creating an environment where they can answer honestly. Asking leading questions or questions that aren’t questions (e.g., “Don’t you agree….”) isn’t conducive to encouraging open and honest dialogue across the system.
How Leaders Shut Down Questions
I’ll never forget being in a senior leadership meeting in a Fortune 500 company. The objective of the conference (as promoted) was to have a dialogue with the CEO. After a few minutes of introductory remarks by the CEO, a VP asked a question. I don’t remember the question, but I’ll never forget the answer. The CEO responded immediately, “Stay in your own swim lane.” There was no explanation, no context or clarification provided. The message was clear to everyone in the room, “don’t ask questions that aren’t specific to your area of responsibility.”
That situation wasn’t the first time I observed leaders shutting down questions from people within their organizations. Some leaders view asking questions as challenging their authority rather than requesting information, clarification, or context.
The type of leader who believes they need to have all the answers is also a poor mentor, coach, or people developer. Years ago, I worked with an executive vice president who believed that his team would learn by him telling them what to do and where to focus their attention. When he asked questions, it was to gather data, not to spark the thinking of his team. It was a huge lost opportunity.
Socrates – “Know Thyself”
Let’s return to Socrates’ comment about our inability to know the self. He is referring to a different type of questioning. It is a practice critical for a business owner/executive to continue their development as leaders and individuals. Socrates said, “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” He believed we are opaque to our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors.
Why is it difficult to know anything? Because we are limited in our conscious perceptions of our thoughts and actions. In other words, why do we think what we think or do what we do? Neuroscience tells us that the heuristics of the unconscious control our thoughts, beliefs, actions, and emotions, and we don’t have access to those rules.
If you react adversely to a question someone in your organization asks, you may have a rule about questioning authority. Or if you get triggered and become angry during an interaction with someone on your team, that signals an underlying rule at work. A rule that you may not be aware of consciously.
We now know that to begin to tease out the rules of the unconscious takes self-reflection and asking questions. For example, when triggered by a statement or an action of another person (or yourself), pause to ask, “Why am I triggered? What’s behind my reaction? What might be connected to that?” Sometimes, it takes a series of questions to uncover the hidden rule of the unconscious mind.
When you identify the unconscious rule, only then can you determine whether you want to continue operating from it, modify it, or shift your behavior (e.g., you are aware of the rule but no longer respond with an adverse reaction, more of a realization and acceptance).
Five Whys
Working with engineers, I learned about the “five whys” technique. It is used to identify cause-and-effect relationships when problem-solving. For example, why did this mechanism fail? Because of “X.” What was the problem with “X.” etc.? This process can quickly get to the root cause of a problem if the people involved are open to discovery and not trying to protect their turf or backsides.
I’ve found over the years that although the five whys is a great technique for getting to the root cause of things like mechanical failures, it isn’t as helpful when working with people; repeatedly asking a person “why” puts them on the defensive. A person in a defensive mode will either freeze up and be unable to respond, leave, or tell you anything to stop the questioning.
One of the powerful aspects of Socratic questions is that they aren’t conducive to a ready or simple answer. I purposefully pose questions to my clients that I don’t expect them to be able to answer immediately. Why? I want them to ponder for a while, challenge their assumptions, and hold the question in their mind to allow their unconscious to provide insights. It is also a good technique for practicing patience.
Ask Big and Small Questions
As we move into this New Year, in addition to planning and setting new intentions, perhaps we could also begin to ask life’s big and small questions. Big questions like: How can I better utilize the tool of asking questions in my business? What is my “why” for this business? How can I better utilize the skills of my team? Or how am I operating from my North Star?
And ask small questions such as: What’s one small step I could take to begin to ask more questions (rather than assuming or telling)? How can I slow down and address issues that will enable me to speed up? What’s behind my rooting around in the refrigerator when I’m not hungry? What’s getting in the way of me exercising regularly? Or how is procrastinating helping/hurting me?
What questions do you need to ask of your team?
What questions do you need to ask your customers or partners?
What questions do you need to ask yourself?
What might you discover if you asked Socratic questions?