Last week’s Tip began:
The best question is the SECOND one. Because people’s first answer rarely tells you everything they think.
And, because Second Questions are so critical, here’s a quick test, to see if you ask them. Recognise these?
- Planning meetings where you spend ages planning (ok, guessing) what someone wants you to do. This shows you didn’t ask enough questions, or you’d know what they wanted
- Missing the brief – when you prepare something that someone then tells you isn’t what they wanted
- Boring staff reviews – which feel superficial – no excitement, no actions after. It’s just going through the motions
- Boring customer reviews – the same thing. No fun. And nothing changes as a result
If any of these sound familiar, you might not be asking enough Second Questions.
But it’s worth mastering. Because – as well as being a huge help – it’s what the best professionals do.
After all, imagine if your doctor asked “what’s wrong?”, you replied “my tummy hurts” and she said “you need the red pills”… not enough Second Questions there!
Action Point
If the four examples sound like you, choose your favourite 2-3 Second Questions, and ask them more often than you do now.