Developing Wisdom through Inquiry
This strategy enables you to learn from others, simply by asking questions of people you carefully select about lessons they have learned from their experience. With the swift changes the world is going through, including the developing global economy, leaders today often find themselves in problematic situations they have never encountered before. For example, doing business for the good of the larger society with a focus on sustainable development has not become a demand until recently. In addition, problems may evolve in an unpredictable manner and call for breakthrough thinking. Sometimes relying on past experience and old solutions does not help resolve current problems and uncertainties. Thus, you may need to consult others and open the door for dialogue and multiple perspectives in order to be wise in problem solving. Many people know the importance of asking others, but are unsure about how to do it. Three things must be considered: whom to ask, what to ask, and how to ask.
You should use care in selecting individuals to ask for input. Although common sense might lead you to consider older and more educated people, not all people in these groups are wise. In addition, individuals who are young or less educated could have exceptional understanding about handling difficult situations. The list below provides you with criteria to help you identify appropriate individuals.
Criteria for Choosing Individuals for Your Inquiry
Choose people who
• are mindful about their personal strengths and limitations
• understand others through dealing with a variety of people
• are able to make complex decisions
• are good listeners and open to all sides of the issues
• are comfortable not knowing everything
• are equipped with a wide knowledge base
• are keen observers
• think before speaking, acting, or making decisions
• are able to take the long view
• seek out information, especially details
• are reflective about their experience
• have the ability to interpret the environment
• are empathetic
After picking the right individuals to have conversations with, you need to know what to inquire about. Asking others about their experience and learning might be very challenging without appropriate tools. The quality and quantity of the information that you receive is dependent upon what and how you ask. You can use the following interview protocol for a general inquiry into a person’s lessons of experience.
When you think about your career and life, certain events or episodes probably stand out in your mind—things that had a lasting impact on who you are today. Could you pick a few of those key events and tell me what you learned from those experiences?
You can also ask about events related to a situation that is bothering you now. Doing so will give you a chance to find out how someone else has handled a similar situation. The list on page 15 provides examples.
The questions that will help you draw out your interviewee’s learning from the event are grouped into four categories:
What happened to your interviewee. These questions help you find out surface facts and understand the context of the experience of others. They focus on the who, what, when, and where of the event.
How your interviewee felt. These questions explore the interviewee’s emotions and personal connections to the situation.
What your interviewee learned and how the learning occurred. These questions make sense of the situation by exploring the major lessons that your interviewee took from the event and unveiling the process that facilitated his or her learning. The questions relate to the person’s values and assumptions, and to the significance and implications of the event for him or her.
Examples of Events for Your Inquiry
Ask about
• starting from scratch in setting up a function or branch for your organization
• managing a business turnaround
• moving from one function to another within your organization
• business mistakes
• dealing with subordinates’ performance problems
• changing from a technical to a supervisory role
• dealing with prejudice or discrimination
• managing conflicts with your peers
• managing conflicts with your boss
• dealing with downsizing and managing emotions
• handling an international assignment
• managing from a distance
• dealing with mergers and acquisitions
• negotiations with external parties
Conclusions and actions. These questions provide time and space for your interviewee to summarize the event and learning in a way that is meaningful to him or her. The questions focus on outcomes and concrete actions that were taken by your interviewee in decision making and problem solving.
Ask some questions from each of the four categories. The list on page 16 provides examples.
Questions to Ask for Each Event
What happened?
• What was the history of the situation?
• What was the main goal (objective, intention) of the event?
• When did it happen?
• Where did it happen?
• What exactly happened?
• Who was involved?
• What was your role?
• What did you hope to achieve?
How did you feel?
• In the event, what were the highs? Lows? How did they make you feel?
• What was your biggest concern?
• Where did you feel most challenged?
• Where did the work go easily for you?
• What surprised you most?
• What did others like (or dislike) about the situation?
• What significance did you attach to the situation?
What did you learn, and how?
• What did you learn from the event? What were your major insights? Why?
• What would you do differently? Why?
• What did you think was really going on? What were the implications? What might be some underlying issues?
• What prompted you to …?
• What might have happened if you had …?
• What might have happened if you hadn’t …?
• What advice would you give others who may go through the same experience?
What conclusions did you draw, and what actions did you take?
• What decision was required? What action was needed?
• What were your priorities? What did you do?
• What could you do to address the concerns of key stakeholders?
• What could you do to make the problem or situation different?
• What resources (people, financial, etc.) could be used?
• What additional resources were needed?
To gather lessons of experience, consider whom to ask, what to ask, and how to ask.
Here are some dos and don’ts when asking others about their lessons of experience.
Pay attention. By paying attention to your own behavior and that of your interviewee, you create a comfortable setting for productive dialogue. Put yourself into the position of a listener and learner, and operate in a respectful manner. Try to connect with and understand the other person instead of interrogating him or her. You also need to pay attention to nonverbal behaviors—yours as well as those of the other person. Make sure that you give positive affirmation such as nodding and smiling when the other person answers. Be sensitive to his or her tone of voice, facial expressions, and physical posture to understand the emotions underlying the words.
Hold judgment. You need to have an open mind and avoid imposing your own values and assumptions upon the other person’s answers. Your goal is to understand how the other person sees the world, not to tell him or her what to do. This requires you to put yourself into the other person’s shoes to relive the experience together. Your patience and acknowledgment of difference are required to allow the other person to talk freely and elaborate.
Paraphrase and summarize. Demonstrate to your interviewee that you are listening carefully by paraphrasing and summarizing what he or she says. By periodically restating and summarizing thoughts, ideas, and emotions mentioned by the other person, you are likely to make him or her feel acknowledged and willing to share more with you.
Share. Being a good listener does not mean only passively receiving the information that you hear. Under the condition of understanding and tolerating different opinions, it will help to move the dialogue to a deeper level by introducing your own take on certain issues. Such genuine exchange will help you gain helpful advice from the other person. Just be careful not to impose your opinions on the other person.
Don’t ignore the unknown. You should not assume that you know everything. Have the humility to admit your lack of knowledge and the possibility that others can make a contribution to complement your own thinking.
Don’t try to find quick fixes. Although leaders are paid to find quick solutions to problems, you should be patient and allow yourself enough time to collect information, become aware of different perspectives, and weigh various solutions. This will lead to a more open attitude in asking questions and soliciting answers, and it will help you process the information more objectively.
Don’t use black-and-white, either-or thinking. When you interview others for their lessons of experience, you are there to get different perspectives and learn about how others have handled similar situations. The information you collect will help you better understand your current situation so that you can come out with an effective solution. You should avoid the tendency to be evaluative and judgmental when hearing answers from your interviewee.