The art of asking: ask better questions, get better answers by Terry J. Fadem

Preface: Corporate Inquisitions xii

Introduction: Questioning Is the Skill of Management 1

Common Errors: How to Recognize and Correct Them 15

Neglected Questions 33

Misuses of Management Skills: Inquisitions Are Not the Only Abuse of Questioning 43

Questioning: Improve Your Skills 53

Signs and Signals 77

Types of Questions 85

Use of Skills 117

Listening 173

Conclusions 179

Epilogue 185

Definitions 187

References 191

Questioning as a Spectator Sport: Where to Go to Watch and Learn the Game 195

Endnotes 199

We've all encountered the corporate inquisitor: the manager whose questions seem primarily intended to terrify the victim, not solve the problem. The goal of your questions ought to be to solve the problem and to build a more effective, collaborative organization in which everyone learns from experience, and nobody's too intimidated to tell the truth. To succeed on both points, you need to ask the right questions in the right ways. This book will teach you how to do precisely that. You'll first evaluate your current "question-asking" skills; then systematically improve them. Terry Fadem helps you determine which questions to ask (and which to skip)... how to provide context that helps people give you the information you need... how to avoid asking questions that guarantee an obvious, useless answer... how to use positioning, posturing, and body language to ask questions more effectively... how to start asking the innovative or neglected questions that uncover real issues, problems, and solutions. Fadem helps you adopt the attributes of a good questioner... understand your goal for each question... use your personal style more effectively... ask tough questions, elicit dissent, react to surprises, overcome evasions, and utilize each type of question most effectively. Becoming a more effective questioner may be the most powerful thing you can do right now to improve your managerial effectiveness and this book gives you all the insights, tools, and techniques you'll need.