A book review on "Change your questions, change your life"

1. ARTICLE REVIEW SESSION
ON
CHANGE YOUR QUESTIONS , CHANGE YOUR LIFE
Presented By
C Viswachaithanya Reddy
Siva Sivani Institute of Management

2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marilee G. Adams is a founder and partner with the center
for Inquiring Leadership .An executive coach and
corporate consultant.
 Her background includes being a psychotherapist with
over 25years in private practice.
 She has spoken on the art of Question Thinking and
Inquiring Leadership to organizations such as NASA,
Siemens Building Technologies ,The Society for Human
Resource Managers and many others.

3.  She is the author of The Art of the Question: A
Guide to Short-Term Questioned –Centered
Therapy.

4. INTRODUCTION
 The book is the story of Ben Knight .He finds himself
challenged ,seemingly beyond his limits, in his new
promotion to a responsible management position
.convinced he doesn’t have what it takes ,he drafts his
resignation. That’s when his CEO steps in and gives him a
second chance by introducing him to Joseph ,the inquiring
coach. However ,Ben’s job isn’t his only problem. His
marriage life is also in trouble. In this book Ben makes
transformations both at work and at home.

5. Problem:
Too much telling and not enough asking questions
with his wife and in the office.
 There are seven tools and practices that Ben led
to such remarkable results. These tools are
discussed in the story .
A world of questions is a world of possibility .
Questions open our minds , connect us to each
other.

6. THE RIGHT QUESTIONS CAN TRANSFORM OUR LIFE
 Everyday , we all ask questions from ‘what should I wear ?to
“what I should do with my life?”. These kind of questions we
ask ourselves .
 Marilee introduces “Question Thinking”
an easy to use system for transforming
thinking, action, and results. With new
perspectives and alternatives ,we take
powerful , practical steps to transform
our relationships and our work.

7. WHY QUESTIONS MATTER?
 “We cannot solve our problems with the same
thinking.”-Albert Einstein
 “Asking a question is the simplest way of focusing
thinking”-Edward de Bono
 “All innovation and new thinking –in processes,
products, services and anything else-begin with a
new question or an old question in a new way.”-
Marilee Goldberg

8. POWER & PURPOSE OF QUESTIONS
 Resolve problems
 Evaluate, assesses, & critique
 Set & accomplish goals
 Clarify & confirm listening
 Learn , Teach & Reflect
 Focus attention
 Create & Innovate-open new possibilities
 Gather information
 Build & maintain relationships
 Think critically, creatively, & strategically
 Make decisions & choices

9. QUESTIONS ,BEHAVIOR & RESULTS

10. 7 DIFFERENT TOOLS TO CHANGE YOUR WORK
& LIFE
 Putting the power of question to work
 Choice map
 Learner-Judger Question
 Empowering your observer
 Switching Question
 Questioning Assumption
 Top Twelve Question for Change

11. TOOL 1- PUTTING THE POWER OF QUESTION
TO WORK
 When we get stuck, it’s natural to look for answers
and solutions.
 We first need to change our questions: otherwise
we keep recycling the same old, unhelpful answers.
 Putting the power of questions to work is the first
tool.
 Questions drive results.
 The most effective communication is about 20
percent telling and 80 percent asking….most of us
turned this around.

12. TOOL 2 –THE CHOICE MAP

13. TOOL 3- JUDGER-LEARNER QUESTIONS
JUDGER LEARNER
What’s wrong? What works?
Who’s to blame? What I am responsible for?
How can I prove I’am right? What are the facts?
How can I protect my life? What’s the big picture?
How can I be in control? What are my choices?
How could I lose? What’s useful about this?
How could I get hurt? What can I learn?
Why is that person so clueless? What is the other person
feeling,needing,wanting?
Why bother? What’s possible?

14. JUDGER- LEARNER MINDSETS
JUDGER MINDSETS LEARNER MINDSETS
Judgemental Accepting
Reactive , automatic Responsive , reflect
“ Know - it –already” Values not – knowing
Blame Responsibility
Inflexible and rigid Flexible and adaptive
Own point of view Multiple prespectives

15. TOOL 4- EMPOWERING YOUR OBSERVER
 Once you’re able to observe your own thinking, and
recognize the difference between Learner and
Judger, you grab hold of the power of choice.
 The questions we form in our minds shape our
decisions, actions & lead to any result we get.

16. TOOL 5 – SWITCHING QUESTION
 In the middle of the choice map there is a road joining the
Judger and learner paths. The switching lane provides a
powerful tool for switching from Judger to learner.

17. TOOL 6- QUESTIONING ASSUMPTION
 You can answer tool to help make decisions- the A-B-
C-C process.
 A-Aware; Am I in judger?
 B-Breathe- Do I need to step back, pause, and look
situation more objectively.
 C-Curiosity- Do I have all the facts? What’s
happening here?
 C-Choose- What’s my choice?

18. TOOL 7- TOP TWELVE QUESTIONS FOR CHANGE
 What do I want?
 What are my choices?
 What assumptions am I thinking?
 What am I responsible for?
 How else can I think about this?
 What is the other person thinking, feeling, needing, and
wanting?
 What am I missing or avoiding?
 What can I learn?
 What questions should I ask myself or others?
 What action steps make the most sense?
 How can I turn this into a win-win?
 What is possible?

19. Thank you
Great Results Begin With Great Questions