3D Coaching

Juggling in 3D 389: Asking the right questions

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Claire writes: 'I was speaking at a meeting the other day and a lady came up to me and asked: "Do you ever employ people?" At the time I was managing a number of questions from a small crowd that had gathered after the talk. So I answered - yes - but we hve no vacancies at the moment. I was tired and answered the question I was asked!

A much more effective question, or supplementary, of course is: Who do you know who I need to be talking to about....? Given a couple of minutes I could have suggested a few names and organisations. But I answered the question I was asked.

At another event last week, there was talk about speaking to a government minister. 'We may only have 5 minutes', said a participant 'we have to be clear what we're asking for.'

Which connects with my latest favourite quotation from Albert Einstein: “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

The same stands when we plan to ask the question of someone else!'

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