Asking Good Questions

There are many ways to ask the same question. Lately I've learned it's not what question you ask but how you ask it if you want a desirable answer.

Let's look at the following questions that I've encountered many times with my team.

Can we add this feature?
Yes, no, maybe so... This question doesn't really lead to proper answer. The answer is usually a yes but often what you will get is depending on whether the responder likes the idea or not.

How hard is it to add this feature?
This question is a bit better than the previous one but it still has the same problem of limiting the answer. Easy, hard, very hard... It also tends to provoke negative thinking.

What will be the effort to add this feature?
Now this question get me thinking. Many times people asked the previous two questions are actually trying to get an answer to the real question...how to get there? This one is an open-ended question that leads the responder into problem solving.

I believe there are even better ways to ask the same question. You should think about how to ask the right question if you want a desirable results. It will get you more success if the question is properly asked.

樂觀感 --- 改變，由我開始

樂觀感：相信自己是值得人喜愛的人；感覺到自己懂得關心別人，也有能力幫助別人；懂得尊重自己，也懂得尊重別人；認為有能力為自己的行為負責；相信凡事總有出路，不抱怨環境，不覺得自己陷于絕路。樂觀感的基礎是一個『望』字：盼望並非一個人主觀的愿望，而是建基於對人性和這世界的信念--雖然人性有幽暗，環境波動難測；但人間仍然有『信』有『愛』，這世界仍有光芒；在逆境中仍然看見亮點！

---P47 <改變，由我開始> 蔡元雲著

Vision and Mission

Just saw a quote from my friend on Facebook. It touches me:

When you have a vision....you must have a mission to achieve the vision.