The Questions to ask Vs. the Questions we ask?

Why did I write this?

For the simple reason that a casual Sunday running came down to what is the pace at which your fellow runner is running? Does it even matter or should it even matter? Why does everything get measured? The problem is running was supposed to be for fun and liberation however it got measured. Miles, Kilometers, pace, all takes the fun out of running (Doesn’t mean am against running races, I do participate in them!)

Have you ever wondered that the questions we ask others during our conversation are evaluative in nature?  During our conversations, we end up evaluating others, knowingly or unknowingly.  If we are talking about work, it ends up gauging whether the other person is at the same level or do I have to reach that person’s level.

Journey of Questions in our life

Humans are naturally competitive. It’s unavoidable, but we should make a conscious effort to change how we question things. Why, you may ask?

It starts early, when we ask children – which school do they go to, how were their exams, which game do they play followed by what was the score? It all ends with quantitative replies which are further translated into creating profiles. These profiles are generally used to compare it with anything and everything under the sun! This leads to an environment where everyone is quantifying everything leading to an output driven culture.

So, is there something wrong with a goal oriented or output driven culture? No, however if everything in life is going to be measured, then there is no room for questions that don’t end with a number.

If we can change the questions we ask, it might lead to looking for solutions to problems, general curiosity to understand how things work, ultimately moving towards a culture of #innovation. When the weight of metrics shifts from achievement to knowledge and learning, we will see more useful solutions rather than things that look good on balance sheets!

What questions we ask have a tremendous impact on the receivers, so choose your questions in such a way that inspires others rather than sending them in the rat race of meeting the metrics of competition!

Moving the needle from Metrics to Value driven Questions

Some examples of questions that can be a starter to cultivate the culture of knowing –

Are you feeling happy?

What interests you?

What problems did you solve today?

What did you learn today?

Did you enjoy running?

How did you approach this?

What was the best part of the day?

Did you meet someone who helped you?

Did you help someone today?

If there’s a question you always wanted to ask without the fear of it not looking impressive in terms of numbers, do share it! It may help the future generation to see from a non-numeric lens for good!