Stay curious. Improve the quality of questions before getting to work on answers. Use more questions to see beyond the obvious answers. Improve group dynamics by ensuring there is enough attention given to asking the right questions. Be interested.

#4. Solution-facing curiosity:

What have you tried?

What would you try if you were new here?

What do you know?

What’s the question?

If you did know, what would you do?

Who might know?

What advice would you give me if our roles were reversed?

“And what else?” breaks that cycle. When asking it becomes a habit, it’s often the simplest way to stay lazy and stay curious. It’s a self-management tool to keep your Advice Monster under restraints.

Start by asking powerful questions. Thoughtful questions trigger a mental reflex known as “instinctive elaboration.” This reflex laser-focuses the brain on finding the answer. If your questions are open-ended, even better. For example, saying, “Help me understand” signals that the questioner is keen to learn. And asking, “What surprised you?” build

Here are some examples of powerful questions to ask someone, that you can modify per your needs:

• What do you really want?

• What about this is important to you?

• What does that look like?

• How do you feel about this?

• What’s next?

• What else is possible?

• What’s right about this?

• What are your concerns?

• What is standing in your way?

• Tell me more

Asking questions will only get you so far. Even more important is listening to the answers. And even more important than that? Listening to understand, not just listening to respond or reply.

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