Questions, Questions, Questions

 A priest and a rabbi were eating lunch one day. “Why do you rabbis always teach with questions?”, the priest asked. The rabbi replied, “what’s wrong with questions?”

In the new millennium more and more teachers, trainers, and leaders will need to answer the rabbi’s question. What’s wrong with asking questions instead of always giving assertions? A quick glance at the Gospel of Mark shows that Jesus, the master teacher and leader, asked roughly 50 questions to different people. Most of these questions were related to teaching people and drawing answers out of them that would reveal what was truly going on in their situations and lives. Jedd Medefind writes, “the eighth chapter of Mark alone contains 16 questions, each unique and piercing. They test faith, gently rebuke, explore the disciples’ understanding of Jesus, and urge followers to examine what they truly value.”

Take a moment and think about this question: “Why are questions so powerful?”

(pause for reflection)

Now make a list of all the answers you came up with.

(pause for writing)

Looking at your list you may have one, five, ten reasons. I could have told you many reasons why questions are powerful but instead I let the question draw out of you answers that were already there. In fact you probably came up with answers that I have never even thought of. That’s the power of a question.

In the cultural environment that we are living in today we can’t rely anymore on the power of assertions. Especially if we want to lead Generation Xers and Millennials or help bring people into a relationship with Jesus. Assertions and dogmatic statements of truth are easily dismissed today as, ‘your own truth’ or ‘your way of looking at the world.’ Assertions ultimately don’t value the intelligence or independence of the listener because they force upon them one opinion rather than allow dialogue.

Even in the field of teaching and training we find that the rise in available information and ideas means many people already have formulated thoughts, opinions and perceptions about subjects that we want to teach. It is through asking questions that we can understand where learners are at and what they already know. It is also through questions that new ideas and solutions are discovered. Synergy happens when people ask questions and then let the answers emerge from the whole group.

Questions are the mark of people with learning mindsets. A study by Lynn Isabella and Ted Forbes from the university of Virginia showed that managers and leaders with a ‘Learning Mindset’ received the highest performance ratings. What constituted a learning mindset? People who were natural questioners; who believed it was more important to ask questions than to seek answers. These natural questioners also reported more transformational life experiences that altered the very fabric of their lives .

My favourite part of asking questions is that it can help people further in their journey of discovery about life. A good question can give permission for people to voice things that they think are right but have never felt confident to share. A good question can be the knock on a darkened door within someone’s life that needs to be opened. A good question can empower someone to take action for his or her decisions and destiny. People tend to believe and take ownership over their own answers. When they realize an answer has come from within, it is a lot harder to dismiss it.

That is why coaching uses questions to help people grow. As John Whitmore states in his book, ‘Coaching for Performance’, coaching is all about helping people become self-aware and take responsibility for their lives and development. The best way to do this is through asking the right questions that will cause someone to look deep within and make the necessary changes. In his classic example he says that telling someone to ‘keep his or her eye on the ball’ (the number one thing a coach says to an athlete) never seems to produce any improvement in performance. On the flipside, questions such as, ‘which way is the ball spinning when it comes to you?’ or ‘how high is the ball this time when it crosses the net’ compels the player to watch the ball at a higher order of focus than normal . The athlete is now aware and responsible for the answer she gives and the coach’s goal of helping her improve her skills is achieved.

How will you use questions in your next meeting or teaching time? What will be the impact upon your staff, your church, and those you lead? What obstacles will you have to overcome within your own life to use questions more?

Answer these questions and see what happens…