Why asking questions is important

Questions are such powerful tools that they can be beneficial—perhaps particularly so—in circumstances when question asking goes against social norms. For instance, prevailing norms tell us that job candidates are expected to answer questions during interviews. But research by Dan Cable, at the London Business School, and Virginia Kay, at the University of North Carolina, suggests that most people excessively self-promote during job interviews.

And when interviewees focus on selling themselves, they are likely to forget to ask questions—about the interviewer, the organization, the work—that would make the interviewer feel more engaged and more apt to view the candidate favorably and could help the candidate predict whether the job would provide satisfying work.

The first step in becoming a better questioner is simply to ask more questions. Of course, the sheer number of questions is not the only factor that influences the quality of a conversation: The type, tone, sequence, and framing also matter.

In our teaching at Harvard Business School, we run an exercise in which we instruct pairs of students to have a conversation. Some students are told to ask as few questions as possible, and some are instructed to ask as many as possible. Among the low-low pairs both students ask a minimum of questions , participants generally report that the experience is a bit like children engaging in parallel play: They exchange statements but struggle to initiate an interactive, enjoyable, or productive dialogue.

The high-high pairs find that too many questions can also create a stilted dynamic. Sometimes the question asker learns a lot about her partner, the answerer feels heard, and both come away feeling profoundly closer. Other times, one of the participants may feel uncomfortable in his role or unsure about how much to share, and the conversation can feel like an interrogation.

Our research suggests several approaches that can enhance the power and efficacy of queries. The best approach for a given situation depends on the goals of the conversationalists—specifically, whether the discussion is cooperative for example, the duo is trying to build a relationship or accomplish a task together or competitive the parties seek to uncover sensitive information from each other or serve their own interests , or some combination of both.

Consider the following tactics. Conversations fall along a continuum from purely competitive to purely cooperative. Here are some challenges that commonly arise when asking and answering questions and tactics for handling them. Not all questions are created equal. How are you? Although each type is abundant in natural conversation, follow-up questions seem to have special power.

They signal to your conversation partner that you are listening, care, and want to know more. People interacting with a partner who asks lots of follow-up questions tend to feel respected and heard. No one likes to feel interrogated—and some types of questions can force answerers into a yes-or-no corner.

Open-ended questions can counteract that effect and thus can be particularly useful in uncovering information or learning something new. Indeed, they are wellsprings of innovation—which is often the result of finding the hidden, unexpected answer that no one has thought of before. For example, if you are in a tense negotiation or are dealing with people who tend to keep their cards close to their chest, open-ended questions can leave too much wiggle room, inviting them to dodge or lie by omission.

In such situations, closed questions work better, especially if they are framed correctly. In these situations, a survey tactic can aid discovery. Although this tactic may sometimes prove useful at an organizational level—we can imagine that managers might administer a survey rather than ask workers directly about sensitive information such as salary expectations—we counsel restraint in using it. The optimal order of your questions depends on the circumstances.

During tense encounters, asking tough questions first, even if it feels socially awkward to do so, can make your conversational partner more willing to open up. Leslie and her coauthors found that people are more willing to reveal sensitive information when questions are asked in a decreasing order of intrusiveness.

Of course, if the first question is too sensitive, you run the risk of offending your counterpart. Questioning everything helps to understand the world round us and Why we do what we do? How do we do that is about technical issues and What we do is usually known. Why reflects beliefs, reasons, purpose and objectives of an institution that eventually motivate its members to adopt them.

Caution , failures of human psychology can induce people to consider a single factor. Responsible answers to questions can help to improve the quality of What we do.

In addition, observations combined with curiosity and questions help us to learn WHY we do things. In general, people and societies know what they do and some are aware of How things are done but many of them ignore why they do what they do; that, in the end, has an impact on the outcomes.

Please, if you do not know Why you do it, do not do it! WHY Matters? Because it is the question that every project team member should answer to explain the reason they are pursuing a venture. A compelling " WHY statement " is a useful tool that aligns the efforts of the leaders, and team members, to improve the chances of success. It sounds simple, but it's not.

Often, a good why requires work and debate. In medicine, doing things without knowing Why is risky. Many of the things that doctors and nurses do continue simply because that is the way we have always done it. Still, if they do know why, it does not mean that it was done correctly! Unfortunately, it can also be due to lack of knowledge, attitude, or practices that eventually became automatic. Doing things for no reason-ignoring why- can involuntary harm institutions and patients.

Abraar Karam. BMJ opinion January 17, For doing things for a reason, start with Why because virtually, everything we do and think is generated by questions that make you think. Many projects fail because their members are functioning without a good reason for doing things. Failures are often due to not discussing, agreeing, or learning why workers do things.

Brown, N. Hyer and R. Fall , Vol. Try out PMC Labs and tell us what you think. Learn More. Science begins by asking questions and then seeking answers. Young children understand this intuitively as they explore and try to make sense of their surroundings.

Encouraging questioning helps to bring the true spirit of science into our educational system, and the art of asking good questions constitutes an important skill to foster for practicing scientists. You just have to memorize it and it doesn't make any sense. The juxtaposition of these quotes illustrates a serious shortcoming of K—12 science education.

The foundation of science is to ask questions about the natural world and then seek answers. If a student sees spelling and learning science as similar experiences, then we are failing to communicate the fundamental reason why science exists as a discipline and what it has to offer.

The student's quote, sadly, reflects our approach to teaching science: Learn the facts and don't deviate from that script. Young children are full of questions, spawned by true curiosity rather than a desire to impress. However, I would like to think that it is not an inevitable outcome of the educational pipeline. Thus it is worthwhile to ask whether we could be doing more to promote questioning as a fundamental tool for science education and in the practice of professional science.

You can't expect to wake up one morning and run a marathon without training. Similarly, asking good questions is a skill that requires practice, training, and mentoring.

If a child or adult is placed in an environment that does not encourage active questioning, then that skill will not become an active habit of mind. The purpose and practice of active questioning has its roots in ancient philosophic traditions. Socrates is well known for using questioning to probe the validity of an assumption, analyze the logic of an argument, and explore the unknown.

Questions were a means to educate his students by drawing out their understanding of a subject and then leading them to discover a set of logical conclusions instead of lecturing them on what is true or false. Socratic questioning is still advocated as a powerful contemporary teaching method Brill and Yarden, Questioning is a core principle of Eastern philosophies as well. In the Prashna-Upanishad, one of the earliest of the Upanishad texts that serve as a foundation of Hinduism, pupils pose six great questions to a wise teacher prashna means question in Sanskrit.

The Buddha also encouraged questioning by his disciples, and a fundamental role for questioning is still embraced in the practices of modern Buddhism. I recently had the pleasure of visiting Dharamsala, India, where I watched Tibetan Buddhist monks debate—a daily practice that involves one monk continually questioning another monk for an hour, often on esoteric points of Buddhist thought.

The questioning involves great mental concentration and intense exchange, punctuated by episodes of laughter and joy. Interestingly, the use of questioning for intellectual exploration and teaching evolved independently in Socratic and Buddhist schools of thought, and both developed this skill through a high degree of discipline and practice.

Since that point, science and philosophy have grown steadily apart in subject areas and methodologies. It would be rare to find a scientist and philosopher exchanging ideas with one another at a meeting. However, the art of questioning is practiced by scientists, philosophers, and educators, and these disciplines might learn from one another and explore and exploit each other's practices and ideas. Virtually all educators agree that teaching science should involve more inquiry-based learning and less fact-based memorization Committee on a Conceptual Framework for New K Science Education Standards, Many educators are now developing experimental modules that engage students in the practice of scientific inquiry in a laboratory setting and are trying to export these experimental modules and ideas to many schools.

Pursued properly, a good question also can be an excellent vehicle with which to start a process of inquiry. Asking questions as a professional sets leaders apart. When your questions are met with good answers, it adds dimensions to your thought process, allowing you to come up with innovative pivoting plans during a crisis , portray authenticity , or determine ways to support your team during trying times.

We discussed how questions can spark innovative solutions, but they also uncover where the challenges and unresolved issues lie. By seeking understanding from your team members, you can approach an issue from several angles to find a solution that works universally. And sometimes, these questions can even lead to positive responses.

In business, listening and communication are key. In particular, you want to ensure your questions are:. You want to avoid being too direct. It will lead to hard and fast answers.