1, #91 - What? So What? Now What?
I think “And what else?” is the best coaching question in the world. It does two things: It extends the period of curiosity, and it tames your advice monster.
We always ask “Why?” to understand the underlying problems. This is nice if you’re talking to customers and stakeholders, but if you’re in a coaching situation, asking “What?” is a much more powerful word to use. You can ask, “So, what do you think about this?” It’s a much more open-ended question and it will give you more insights. “Why did you do
... See moreMartin Eriksson • Strong Product People
Behind “So what?” is “What does that have to do with me?” Let all your content answer that question.
Ben Hunt • Convert!: Designing Web Sites to Increase Traffic and Conversion
The group needs to learn:
- What everyone else thinks about the challenge: What is happening? What’s the real challenge?
- What they themselves believe is possible — what futures can be created with this group?
- What does the group believe is possible?
- What are we willing to try? How much risk are we willing to endure?
- How committed is the group to the chall
Daniel Stillman • Team Work is Team Learning — Daniel Stillman
What happened? What do I want? What’s useful about this? What can I learn? What’s the other person thinking, feeling, and wanting? What are my choices? What’s best to do now? What’s possible?”
Marilee Adams • Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 12 Powerful Tools for Leadership, Coaching, and Life
This is the final, and critical, How stage of inquiry—when you’ve asked all the Whys, considered the What Ifs . . . and must now figure out, How do I actually get this done? It’s the action stage, yet it is still driven by questions, albeit more practical ones.
Warren Berger • A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas
I also do a “so what” exercise. I make a statement and ask myself “so what?” at the end of it.