Questions, not answers, is what you want

"There is more power in the words of a well positioned question than in the statement of a clearly defined answer"                                                                                                                                   - anonymous

There is no shortage of books, magazine articles, blogs, or self help guides stating that the answers you seek, they have. The situation now becomes that when you state a defined position you have nowhere to go from there. No room to grow. No new information to attain. No fresh ideas to apply. The reason being because you have an answer.

The reality with this, though, is just like fingerprints no two people, problems, scenarios or circumstances are the same. Every predicament is situational. One set of answers is often not transferable to another set of issues. There may be some similarities but there is a high probability that a new set of strategies will be necessary to remedy the new set of challenges.

This is especially true in our post-industrial age business climate - where we have seen similar circumstances in the past but not exactly the same as what we are facing today.

So in order to be efficient you have to understand the art and science of question asking.

Whether you are a trainer, facilitator, CEO, or entrepreneur - knowing how to ask excellent questions allows those you are engaging, to grow - on their own terms. You don't have to have all the answers, but if you ask a question that forces your audience to think. . . you are now in the ideal situation.

As an excellent question asker you position yourself as someone who knows the landscape and wants others to see and know the current realities for themselves. Telling people or giving them examples of "the answer" is a strategy that might work in the short term. Asking them questions and facilitating a process that helps them see things for themselves is innovation in the making - and as the Chinese proverb goes "tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."  When those you are engaging understand, it is because you're asking them questions - involving them in the process. . . now you're moving to the next level.

This is extremely valuable for today's business landscape where the unknown is the order of the day. Asking the incorrect question from the beginning could put you on the path to wrong answers. Wrong questions leading to wrong answers could mean you're heading south when the market is heading west. This means doubling back which then becomes lost time, money and resources and in this economic climate NOBODY can afford that.

Think about profound, valuable, and necessary questions to ask friends, colleagues, co-workers or even yourself. It could prove more valuable than any answer you were ardently looking for.