Detonate

CHAPTER 12Implications for Leadership: Accelerate by Asking Better Questions

If this book were a conference speech, the host would invariably ask a question such as, “What one thing can this group of people go back to their office tomorrow and change and have a huge impact?” Generally, we hate this question. It trivializes the challenges of widespread organizational change and is the moral equivalent of governing by sound bite. It's just not that easy.

That being said, you can do something immediately, Monday morning back in the office: Change your questions. We all ask them every day of our teams. And every time we ask something, they go and do work, consistent with their interpretation of our questions. One of our colleagues, Jonathan Goodman, the Global Managing Partner of Monitor Deloitte, is fond of saying, “The most powerful tool executives have to drive change is their questions.”⁵⁶ Yes, questions are a very powerful tool, indeed. Change the question, change the outcome.

The two of us were working with a well‐known consumer products company that had a leading position in a global category and was looking to fend off competition by extending its position with innovation focused away from the product. With a little bit of coaching, the innovation team had created three really interesting concepts that had the potential to make an upcoming launch even stronger without touching the product. Yet in our interim review, the head of the division, naturally excited about seeing ...