Scaling Conversations

CHAPTER 9Components of Good Questions for Scaled Conversations

Now that we've covered why, and to some degree when, to ask questions through the lens of meeting people where they are at, let's touch on how. Each section of the scaled conversations hierarchy in the previous chapter has some questions that serve as good examples of simple ways to tackle complex subjects.

The “How?” of constructing a good question for a scaled conversation is actually the easiest part once you realize how to meet people where they are at. The question itself is not as important as the intention, timing and communication around the initiative. That said, there are a few tenets to consider as you lean in to understand how to ask great questions. The components I'll cover are:

1. Openness
2. Candor
3. Consider and rate thoughts of others
4. Avoid a false democracy
5. Meet people where they are at!

Let's start with openness.

OPENNESS

Consider that the state of being open is the state of allowing access. When it comes to developing questions the important thing to consider is that any question you ask needs to allow access for voice. Pragmatically, asking an open‐ended question means avoiding binary choices like: Which one do you like best?

What is more important is considering what you are open to. It is easy to really mess up a question by adding what you believe are helpful pieces of context. All this does is make people feel less invited to share their minds. Consider the difference between these two questions: ...