Ask More

CHAPTER 13

I’M GLAD I ASKED

I EMBARKED ON THIS project to discover a better and more disciplined way to ask questions. I wanted to find out if questioning could be organized around specific objectives and how the types of questions we ask affect how we listen. Though I had asked questions all my life as a journalist and interviewer, I never thought of them as “strategic” or “creative” or “empathetic.” I didn’t build inquiry around outcomes. But as I talked to close to 100 people for this book, curious souls skilled at turning questions into discovery and results, I became convinced that a “taxonomy” of questions, each with its own approach and compelling benefits, could serve as a useful way to think about what and how we ask. I don’t pretend ...