The results we get are a feature of the questions we ask. If we want different results we need to ask different questions.
Whether explicitly or implicitly, we ask questions all the time. Research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience shows that our brains process information and generate questions all the time, often subconsciously. We’re also often engaged in metacognitive activities—thinking about our own thinking—which involves asking questions about our thoughts, knowledge, beliefs and attitudes.
Some questions produce better answers than others. Some transform and enable, while others stifle and limit. Some inhibit our creativity, others inspire it. With this in mind, we can look at an area of our life that’s not where we’d like it to be and examine it through the perspective of the questions we must have been asking to get there.
For example, let’s say you have your own business and you’ve been struggling to increase your income. If you’re selling a product, to make more money you need to either increase your prices or sell more products. If you’re a service provider, you need to charge your current clients more or find new clients.
What are some of the stifling questions you might have been asking—consciously or subconsciously—that have been preventing you from making the progress you want to make?
Asking better questions for a product business
For a product business, some stifling questions are:
- Is there really a wider market for my product?
- Is my product on the same level as a competitor’s product?
- What negative impact may increasing prices have on my sales? Will my sales collapse completely if I increase prices?
- Is my product good enough to sustain a higher price?
Enabling questions that can create better results:
- What is preventing me from increasing prices or selling more products?
- How can I remove these barriers?
- How can I expand my market while minimising potential risks?
- What has not worked so far in delivering the results I want, and how can I steer away from that?
- What can I learn from my experience so far that will help me achieve my goal?
Asking better questions for a service business
For a service business, some common stifling questions are:
- How can I uplevel my skills before I approach new clients?
- If I increased my current rates, will my clients stop working with me?
- Do I have the skills and experience to justify higher prices?
- How can I get to the level of __fill in a mentor’s name or a competitor’s name__?
Enabling questions for a service business are:
- What are the two main reasons I haven’t increased prices and approached new clients?
- What do I need to do to overcome them?
- When it comes to my skills and performances, what do I consider to be my Achilles heel? Can I turn it into a strength?
- What are my strengths and how can I leverage them further?
- What am I afraid of? How can I mitigate its impact?
- What are my quintessential interests and characteristics and how can I combine them into a unique offering?
The questions we ask shape the answers we get. Some questions stifle progress, others enable it. If we want better outcomes, we need to ask better questions. Examining projects or areas of our life that we’re not satisfied with through the prism of the questions we ask about them can give us some deep insights into what really has been blocking our progress and how we can move closer to achieving our goals.