Focus on listening over speaking is another adage with as much power as the last Whimsy, Hustle While You Wait that was posted last week.
I was asked by a major bank CEO to help them win the coveted Baldridge Quality Award. My assignment was to document how they were a great learning organization. I decided to sit in on a wide variety of meetings, many with the senior leadership team. I defined two columns with tally marks for the number of statements made and questions asked at each meeting.
I then reported to the CEO that I was not successful.
What I had found was a ratio of about 100 statements—participants asserting things to others—for every question asked. My reflection was that learning is not separable from curiosity and inquisitiveness. Both come from questions.
A longer blog post will soon look more deeply at the power of questions to guide thinking by others in ways that statements cannot do. Meanwhile, ask someone to use a tablet to keep the same tally I did for some meetings in your organization.
I agree that the lack of questions is problematic. I think a group getting your feedback would start asking multiple questions in the next session. However, not all questions should be rated the same. What about insipid questions that merely repeat what the speaker has said? They do not represent real learning or communication.
Great insight–one I can use immediately as I join a new executive team!
Thanks! Sorry to be late responding. Just figuring this out on blog