Questions

“I walked out of the clubhouse, and there it was!”

–        Fuzzy Zoeller, in response to the question, “How’d you find the golf course today?”      

I love sports.  I love journalism.  It was, like, my first and third majors in college, I think.  I do not love sports journalism.  Sports journalists are the Kings of Bad Questions.  Bad Questions lead to bad answers, and bad answers lead to bad decisions and, well, you get the point…

Questions are the key to what we do, so we need to ask good questions, and, if you were with us for last week’s posts, you’ll remember the importance of listening to the answers.

Questions are key even when we’re not the ones asking them.  Sometimes we have to help our customers ask better questions.  Sometimes we have to work our way through silly questions to get to the real matter at hand.  Sometimes customers tell us they want something, and we might need to ask “why?”  Sometimes customers tell us they can’t do something, and we need to ask, “Why not?”

If we don’t know “why?” we don’t know much of anything.  If we don’t know “when,” we can’t prioritize.

If you’re in sales, questions are key.  If you’re in delivery, questions are key.  If you’re in a position where you don’t live in a cave and eat bugs without any human contact…..questions are key.

Be inquisitive!  Ask yourself, “How can I make a difference today?”  It’s a pretty good bet that if you start there, you will, in fact, make a difference.