Corinna first learned about Powerful Questions from Deborah Hartmann-Preuss. See, some questions are better suited to lead to a rich conversation or spark insights. Closed questions (Which or Yes/No questions) cut conversations short. They rarely get new issues on the table. Open questions, on the other hand, invite interesting answers. And even among the open questions, some are more open. “Why?”, “What?” and “How?” take the crown 🙂
For an inspiring list of powerful questions, check out the bank that Martin Alaimo provides for the Coaching Canvas.
Are you a budding Product Owner? Check out our compilation "Skills for Successful Product Owners"
Content of 1-Pager:
Powerful Questions
Not all questions are created equal. Some inquiries invite richer responses than others. Ask “open” questions to inspire deeper insights. Be genuinely curious about the answer.
Closed Questions:
- Yes/No?
- Which?
Weak Open Questions:
- Who?
- Where?
- When?
Powerful Open Questions:
- What?
- How?
- Why?
The 1-pager also contains examples of Powerful Questions such as:
- What would you like to have happen?
- How do you know that?