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How many open-ended, idea-prompting questions do you ask every day?

Do you ask more questions than you give orders or provide answers?

Recently, I worked with a client, and we explored the vital topic of curiosity as a leadership attribute and questioning as a behaviour.

At the start of the work, most individuals assumed their ratio of questions-to-orders/answers would be high.

Read about why leaders need to be curious.

It was their belief they were curious and used open-ended, provocative questions about customers, markets, competitors, processes and so forth. One manager offered, “It’s my job to help them think about the possibilities, not provide the answers.“

Imagine their surprise when a survey of their direct reports demonstrated that their directives and answers significantly outnumbered questions.

I was once called out for blathering instead of listening. I was disappointed to admit that I tended to opine and answer rather than stimulate thinking through listening and questions.

Moving the ratio in the right direction became a developmental exercise for me.

And here’s why I believe this is so important.

Questions are the Seeds of Ideas and Innovations

In a world drunk on the speed of change and filled with uncertainty, the right questions provoke thinking and give way to actions, experiments, and ideas that provoke more questions and beget more ideas.

As the leader, you set the tone for curiosity in your team. Questions free people to think, speculate, and follow threads to strengthen some aspect of the business.

Read about the power of silence in conversations

What Is Your  Ratio?

For the next few days, keep a log of the number of times you ask open-ended, exploratory questions (“Did you finish that work?” doesn’t count!) versus issuing answers or directives.

If your ratio is skewed toward the questions, keep it up. If not, here are some question prompts to put to work as part of your developmental activity.

7 Questions to Stimulate Curiosity on Your Team

1. “What if?”

• “What if we develop a new product that eats our old one in the marketplace. Will it eat the competitor’s as well?”
• “What if we changed this process to empower our employees to make decisions directly with customers without seeking approval from a manager?
• “What if we changed our view of who our real competition is in the marketplace?”

 2. “What do you know that is new?” Former GE Chairman and CEO Jack Welch, upon first meeting someone would ask, “What do you know that is new?” and took the time to listen to the answers.

6 essential questions that are good for children & employees

3. “What do we need to know to make this decision?” Most decision-making processes are fraught with incomplete data, opinions, and biases. This simple question challenges groups and individuals to consider a problem before making an informed choice.

4. “What does this mean for us/our customers?” I use this question liberally when changes in the external environment, industry, or competitor announcements send everyone into panic mode.

5. “How would you approach this situation if you framed it as an opportunity instead of a problem?” This question forces people to move beyond their defensive mode and into the world of possibilities.

6. “What events in markets and technologies will change everything? This question moves people beyond the four-wall and inside-out thinking.

7. “What are the real burdens our customers hire our products to remove?” Reframing questions about what your products and services do to resolve customers’ problems is a great way to rethink your innovation efforts.

 Read about leadership regrets.

Closing Thoughts

If you ask more open-ended, thought-provoking questions, the number of ideas people and teams generate will grow.

Of course, you have to bring those ideas to life.

But for the moment, focus on asking more and directing less.

And see where it takes you.

Remember, your curiosity is contagious.

I have worked with dozens of companies and organizations, addressing team and organizational challenges.

I am always surprised that most leadership teams have no idea who their ‘First Team’ is.

The ‘First Team‘—best articulated by Patrick Lencioni—is the idea that true leaders prioritize supporting their fellow leaders over their direct reports. They are more responsible to their peers than their individual or “Second” teams.

One of the first areas I address in our client consulting sessions is organizational clarity.

I need to know if the executive team are on the same page regarding foundational concepts of their business.

How do these teams answer questions such as: Why does this organization exist? What is our strategy? What are our goals? Etc.

Confusion and hesitation begin to plague an organization without clear, consistent answers to these questions.

Read more about to create leaders, not followers

Creating alignment at the executive level is essential to building and maintaining a healthy organization.

Imagine employees’ frustration navigating the politics and confusion caused by misaligned leaders.

The slightest bit of daylight between executive team members can overwhelmingly impact employees below.

The Six Critical Questions

In our sessions, I facilitate the exploration of the following six questions:

• Why do we exist? Beyond making money
• What do we do? What is it we exist to do?
• How will we behave? What are our core values
• How will we succeed? How do we make the best decision?
• What important work do we need to achieve right now? The one thing that, when accomplished, will significantly advance the company
• Who does what? Roles and responsibilities

Like in much of leadership, these questions may appear simple on the surface but are profoundly difficult to answer.r

And even more challenging to adhere to.

Test your Team

Many executives assume that they are on the same page as their peers, but this is not the case once they get in a room together and openly discuss these concepts.

Interested in conducting a simple but eye-opening experiment?

Have your team members sit together.

Give everyone a sheet of paper and five minutes to write down their answers to the question, “What do we do?”

Have each person read their answer out and listen to each answer in silence.

Read more about the power of silence.

I think you will be shocked by the discrepancies amongstyouru leadership team members.

Then consider this …

If the key leaders in your organization are not in agreement about “What do we do? How on earth could anyone else understand?

Seize the Advantage

If you ensure your team and company are clear and aligned from the top down on the answers to these six critical questions, you will have an insurmountable advantage over your competition.

Innovation is the lifeblood of success.

Organizations that can adapt, embrace change, and foster creativity are poised to thrive. Yet, amidst the demands of day-to-day operations, many organizations are stuck in a routine cycle, clinging to familiar practices and struggling to break free from the shackles of repetition.

So, why do some leaders, despite voicing support for innovation, shy away from it in practice?

This is not limited to the entry-level or the boardroom, but it often strikes hardest in mid-level management. These managers are the bridge between the strategic vision of top leadership and the execution of plans on the front lines. They are entrusted with maintaining the status quo and driving innovation and improvement.

Let’s take Maya.

She’s a mid-level manager who repeatedly expressed her desire to see “out-of-the-box” thinking from her team to get faster, higher-quality service. She and the team’s schedules are filled with weekly back-to-back meetings, leaving no time to nurture or evaluate creative ideas. The one brainstorming session she organized last month was a rushed 30-minute virtual call on a Friday amidst an already hectic day interspersed with urgent emails and calls.

The result?

You guessed it: ideas were safe, familiar, and anything but innovative.

The Battle Against Repetition

Leaders like Maya, often unknowingly, lead teams that become world champions of acting like we did yesterday.

In the realm of work, this means adhering to practices because “that’s how it’s always been done.” It means churning out reports in the same format, holding meetings without clear agendas, and avoiding any method or idea that deviates from the norm. There’s an implicit safety in repetition; it’s familiar, predictable, and rarely questioned.

But here lies the paradox: by seeking refuge in the known, we shut out the innovative and the new, stunting potential growth.

Understanding Reluctance Towards Creativity

So, why do some leaders, despite voicing support for innovation, shy away from it in practice?

• Risk-Aversion: Creative ideas are, by nature, untested, which makes them risky. Many leaders fear the repercussions of a novel idea failing, especially in front of senior leaders or the team.
• Time Constraints: True creativity isn’t instant. It requires time for thought, discussion, and even disagreement. The daily hustle, especially for mid-level managers who must manage multiple tasks and do their work, makes it challenging to carve out this space, particularly when the pressures of your day-to-day life tell you that “you don’t have time for this.”
• Look For Base Hits Instead of Home Runs: Some might believe creativity is only about ‘big ideas’ and grand innovations. They overlook the more minor, incremental changes (sometimes called ‘little c’ creativity) that can lead to substantial long-term benefits.
• Resisting Change: It’s human nature to resist change, especially when current systems seem to be working “good enough.

 Read about Resisting Change

Questions to Guide Creative Thought

For managers looking to harness the power of creativity within their teams, reflecting on these guiding questions can be transformative:

• Re-Visit Assumptions: “Why do we do it this way?” Challenge the status quo. Reassess ingrained practices to see if they still serve your team’s goals.
• Establish the End Goal: “What are we ultimately trying to accomplish?” Clarify the endgame. Understand the core objectives to ensure that innovation aligns with the bigger picture. You can use a tactic like the “5 Whys” to get at the source of the issue and ensure you’re solving the right problem.

Read about the ‘5 Whys’

• Brainstorm: “What do we think can solve this?” This is not the time for negativity (that comes later). Encourage an open platform for ideas where No’s, But’s, or “We already tried that” are momentarily set aside.
• Combine Ideas: Once ideas are on the table, look for intersections where combining them could lead to more effective outcomes. This is sometimes known as looking for the “1+1=3” ideas.
• Prevent Overthinking: “What if we only had 30 days? What if this were easy?” Imposing constraints can often lead to more ingenious solutions.
• Identify Hurdles: “What would prevent this from happening? What could go wrong?” Recognizing challenges upfront, potentially through Red Team exercises and frame changes, allows for better planning and resource allocation.
• Strategizing Solutions: “How can we overcome these barriers? What resources are needed?” Convert challenges into actionable steps.
• Action and Commitment: “Who is doing what, and by when? How will we know we’ve succeeded?” Define responsibilities and success metrics to track progress through written action plans.

Embracing creativity isn’t about discarding everything you know. It’s about allowing space for new possibilities.

For mid-level managers like Maya, the challenges are twofold: finding time amid the chaos and having the courage to venture into the unknown.

To all such leaders: Take a step today. Dedicate just an hour this week, free from distractions, to brainstorm with your team. Utilize the guiding questions above.

Listen, truly listen to their ideas.

You may find the seed of the following significant innovation for your organization in that hour.

The Buddha’s Upajjhatthana Sutta discourse explains that contemplating five facts can help weaken or overcome conceit, lust, and irresponsibility. The discourse suggests that contemplating these facts can help cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path.

We can take the lesson of the five facts from spiritual quests and apply it to our day-to-day leadership and management activities.  Quite frankly, we spend a lot of our day solving problems. So, turn the five Facts into the five Whys.

The 5 Whys technique is a problem-solving method that involves repeatedly asking “why” to uncover the root cause of a problem. The steps for using the 5 Whys technique are: 

Start with a description of the problem 

Ask “why” and provide a clear and concise answer 

Repeat the process until you reach the root cause of the problem 

The 5 Whys technique is best suited for simple or moderately difficult problems. It can be used in troubleshooting, problem-solving, and quality-improvement initiatives

What is 5 Whys Problem Solving?

The 5 Whys Problem-Solving technique is a simple process for solving any problem. It involves repeatedly asking the question “Why” (five times is a good rule of thumb) to peel away the layers of symptoms that can lead to the root cause of a problem. This strategy relates to the principle of systematic problem-solving.

Proper use of the technique is to help identify the root cause of a problem. (A root cause is the most basic reason that, if eliminated, would prevent recurrence.) Then, to provide a framework for a team to work through more complex problems.

Make sure that you avoid using the 5 Whys to assign blame  for the problem or to turn it into a tedious, desk-intensive project

Read more about silence and asking questions

How?

Write down the specific problem. Writing about the issue helps you formalize it and describe it completely, allowing the team to focus on the same problem. Always describe the current condition and use data whenever possible.

 For example, overall customer complaints are up by 50%.

Ask why the problem occurs and write the answer below the problem.

If the answer doesn’t identify the root cause of the problem you wrote in step 1, ask why again and write that answer down. Repeat step 3 until the team agrees on the root cause of the problem identified.

For Example:

Create a Problem Statement: IE Your company could not get the customer’s product request on time.

1^st Why: Why were you unable to produce the product on time? Because the equipment failed.

2^nd Why: Why did the equipment fail? Because the circuit board burned out.

3^rd Why: Why did the circuit board burn out? Because it overheated.

4^th Why: Why did it overheat? Because the air filter wasn’t changed.

5^th Why: Why wasn’t the filter changed? Because there was no afternoon maintenance shift scheduled to change it.

Et Voila

Inner peace is found through enlightenment.

Now, go down to the shop floor and enlighten your maintenance team.

How? Read about the 4 Fs of addressing concerns with your boss, or anyone: The 4 F’s (And @#$% isn’t one) of dealing with a boss with low EI

Recognizing and rewarding hard work in the construction industry is crucial for maintaining employee morale and productivity.

The employee engagement firm Whistle had a client who faced a significant challenge in its rewards program. In 2023, the client spent $2 million on Starbucks and Grubhub gift cards for employees and subcontractors. However, a detailed analysis by Whistle Rewards revealed a horrifying inefficiency: only $880,000 of these gift cards were ever redeemed.

This meant that $1,120,000 of the firm’s reward budget was essentially wasted. (https://www.wewhistle.com/the-ugly-truth-about-gift-cards/)

Employee Rewards: Frequency matters more

Which is more effective at employee engagement and retention: $25 once a month or three $5 recognitions per month? The surprising answer is three $5 recognitions. Recognitions are not compensation. They are acts of appreciation.

Maintaining a motivated and engaged workforce is critical to success in many industries where projects are fast-paced, labour-intensive, and often high-stakes. Traditionally, companies have relied on large, infrequent rewards—such as annual bonuses or quarterly recognition ceremonies—to show employee appreciation. However, frequent, lower-value rewards are more effective in driving sustained engagement and improving overall performance.

When companies wait to recognize staff, Whistle found they lost 5% of the “reinforcement impact” for each day of delay. For example, if an employee receives a reward two weeks after doing something unique, achieving the same impact as immediate recognition costs twice as much.

Read about Recognition & Corrective Action: How Do You Measure Up?

Frequent rewards also offer practical benefits; for example, when workers feel appreciated regularly, they are more likely to collaborate effectively and go the extra mile to ensure success.

Yet here we are at Christmas when most companies reward employees with dinners, gifts, and parties. If frequency is the long-term solution, how do we address the Holiday Season?

As a leader of people, I know that the holidays can be stressful. You are trying to finish the year strong while juggling time off and family commitments. That’s tough already, plus you also must find time to plan gifts and events to show your staff you appreciate their hard work this year.

If you search online for gift ideas, you might find some helpful guides but minefields of bad ideas. Take this one, for example: Their number one recommendation is a gift card. That is perhaps the worst and most impersonal holiday gift idea.

Many managers take the easy path and buy gift cards from Starbucks, Target, or Amazon. Some may make more effort and purchase gift cards to a local restaurant or shop.

While those are all nice, they don’t show that you know or appreciate your team members. Imagine how it would feel to get a coffee gift card if you don’t drink coffee. Or a Home Depot gift card, and you can barely change a lightbulb. Worse still, getting a gift card to a store with no locations nearby. If the team is virtual, the store might not even operate in their state.

The simple fact is that while a gift card might work for some of your employees, it will only be suitable for some of your team.

This opportunity to show gratitude and cement employee loyalty just became a signal to your team members that you don’t know them very well. They might spend the holiday break updating their resumes.

A better way to show you care is to give a memorable, practical gift that shows you know your team well. This gift should be something they will appreciate and remember long after the holiday break, something that will make their lives better or help them at work, and something unique to them, not just a one-size-fits-all gift.

Explore Tina Turner asked, “What’s love got to do with it?” – Is there a place for love in leadership?

Here are a few tips and ideas to make this season one that increases employee loyalty rather than erodes it:

1) Host a Holiday Gathering. Don’t underestimate the importance of hosting an end-of-year gathering for your team. A Christmas party is the perfect way to celebrate and acknowledge the year of hard work every employee has put in. It wraps up the year positively and motivates staff to achieve bigger and better achievements for the coming year! Recognition, rewards, and the chance for some fun will build staff engagement and loyalty and create a fantastic work culture.

As much as you want to be all about fun and positivity, there is no denying that work parties can be dangerous territory. The mixture of alcohol and the chance to drop some of those rigid office personas may come with some unwanted side effects. Before any festivities, make it clear to your team that the same standards of behaviour are expected at office functions as within the workplace.

Parties are not for everyone, so ensure there are no intended or unintended repercussions for not attending. And if any gifts or recognition are included in the event’s agenda, those not in attendance will be equally recognized at the first appropriate opportunity.

2) Try a virtual scavenger hunt. With virtual teams becoming the new norm, it is time to rethink the holiday party. One great way to show appreciation is to have a virtual scavenger hunt. The winners can be determined by who collects the most items before time runs out. Reward the winners, but make sure everyone gets something, even if they don’t answer all the questions correctly.

3) give people cash. While giving cash may feel impersonal, it can be done personally. Write each employee a note and tell them why you appreciate them. Be as specific as possible. Remind them of a great project they completed this year, or tell them about something you are excited to collaborate with them on next year.

4) Give the gift of time off. This is one of the best ways to show you care. Let your team know you appreciate all their hard work this year by giving them an extra day (or two) off. If you can’t swing an additional day, give them a half-day. Time is the one commodity we can never get more of, so this is always a cherished gift.

5) Give them a new skill. Everyone wants to improve at something. Maybe it’s related to their day job, but it’s even better if it is not. Maybe your employee wants to learn to code, speak French, be a podcaster, or play the piano. Please give them a subscription to Masterclass or Duolingo. Even better, give them paid time to use those subscriptions. Insecure employers might worry that training their employees will lead them to leave the company.

Read About The 7 Hidden Reasons Your Employees Leave You

Step up your game this holiday season and show your staff appreciation.