Hal Gregersen, a lecturer at The MIT Sloan School of Management, may be on to something. He suggests that the key to getting unstuck in your organization is to take a step back before you start proposing solutions. Often the initial solutions we gravitate toward are rooted in assumptions we already hold — which may be the reason for the problem. Instead, consider starting with questions. Lots of questions.
How often do congregational leadership teams spend a full meeting generating questions? Some people are genuinely uncomfortable if a meeting doesn’t end with a list of answers, assigned tasks and due dates. This is not a knock against looking for answers: it’s just that we may not find the right answer until we ask enough of the right kind of questions.
Gregersen talks about “catalytic questioning” and “question bursts” as a great way to see what you aren’t seeing and find a better way to address tough challenges. Question bursts are supposed to be a better way to brainstorm. In a one-on-one setting, one person launches question after question to another person, who is prohibited from answering the questions. They instead write down the questions word for word. The idea is that the person on the receiving end learns to see the problem from a new perspective.
Catalytic questioning is a similar process; it uses question bursts in a group format.
What’s key in both processes is that you must pick an issue that the receiver or the team cares about, then generate dozens of questions, perhaps up to 50. The point of the questions is not to elicit technical information. The questions should be open-ended and structured to broaden people’s imaginations. After you come up with a massive list of questions, cull the list to just a handful of generative ones that will best serve your group’s objectives. Once you find the right question, you’ll be on the path to the answers you seek.
