The quality of your answer is only as good as the quality of your questions. There are no bad questions; the only difference is their quality. Some questions lead you astray; some bring you closer to the truth. It takes skill, honesty, and a lot of bravery to ask high-quality questions which point towards the answer.
Asking questions is only part of the equation, of course. We have to answer them. Sometimes that means we need to ask more questions to make sure our answers are accurate and true. It’s not enough to just answer the question: we have to consider what the answer means. (Yeah, more questions.). Finally, we have to decide on what to do with the answer: action is necessary.
It’s a cycle of Questions, Answers, and Actions. Answers to questions nobody asked are worthless. Questions without answers are tortuous. Answers to questions may be accurate, but there is no point unless you take action. Action without questions or answers is foolhardy.
Sometimes, the right question is all you need to unlock a new perspective which leads to massive change and radical actions. So here are a few questions to get your grey matter thinking. I am happy to share this puzzle piece with you; if that is all you need to change your business, then I am one step closer to my goal of changing “standard” practices and I am free to work with clients who genuinely need my assistance or the clout of an expert.
Proceed with caution: you may not enjoy the implications nor the answers you find. But even the questions that make you squirm a little are good: because that is the first step to change. Introspection and honesty are the most effective tools any of us have.
The following four broad categories have proved to be nearly-universal trouble-spots with every employee I have spoken to, and within every company and institution I have spent time. This is just a smattering of questions which I let roll off my fingers and into the digital world.
Employee Feedback
- Do we follow up on feedback? Do we keep our word when we promise to follow up? Do we follow up with supervisors, peers, and other experienced employees when someone reports concerns? Do we act on feedback and investigate? What resources do we devote to feedback? How well do we track it? Do we discuss and analyze feedback for trends YoY or throughout our departments?
- Do we return to reward ideas and contributions which have been profitable to our company? Are these rewards meaningful to the employee receiving them? Who should determine “a meaningful reward”? Would the rewards and incentive programs you provide your employees actually excite you?
- Do we encourage or stifle employee feedback? In what ways? How would we know? How could we measure?
- What beliefs do we hold about the value of employee feedback? Do our actions reinforce that claim, or undermine that belief? Do our actions speak louder than our words? What behaviors would prove that we value feedback?
Toxic Positivity & Broken Systems
- Is Toxic Positivity really all that bad? What would the symptoms look like? How many symptoms correlate to my department or business? What risks might it pose? How would those risks hurt my department or business? How could we measure and quantify this risk?
- Are our systems and processes effective? How do we measure this? Should we as leaders define it alone, or should our employees also have a say? What led to this answer?
- Why do we say “Trust the Process” and “Trust the System” in our business? How often do our managers use these phrases? What exact statements or actions from our employees prompt leaders and managers to repeat the idea? Is it possible this could be misused to shut down feedback? Could it be used to minimize or invalidate concerns? If the system does not work, how much negative emotion are we stirring up by denying reality? What symptoms might exist if the phrases were being misused regularly in a team, department, or branch? How could we measure it? Who could we use as a resource to measure? If we haven’t spoken to those resources…why not?
Negative / Emotional Feedback
- Does negative feedback have any value? Can actionable items be conveyed in negative or emotionally-charged feedback? Is it possible to provide negative criticism with positive intent?
- What does our attitude towards negative feedback in exit surveys reveal about our overall beliefs and handling of data in general? If we discount exit surveys due to the nature of their content, what other feedback from other sources might we be discounting?
- Can we cherry-pick the data we choose to act upon, or are we responsible to act upon all data? What does it say about our integrity when we pick and choose data? Where could this decision lead our company? Can we hide this decision, or are employees smart enough to notice we are cherry picking data? How could we measure and find out?
- Whose responsibility is it to decode feedback and translate it into useful data and information? Should we require employees to report concerns only logical, emotion-free terms? Do we discount emotional feedback? How could we measure an unknown bias against emotional or negative feedback? Is it fair to require employees to present “perfect” feedback before considering it valid? How might employees respond if they perceived it that way?
- Is it fair to an employee to refuse to act on their feedback due to a lack of data? Is it fair to ask them to provide data? Is that their responsibility? Is that their job? Are we willing to incentivize such behavior and reward it? Are we willing to dedicate as much time out-side-their-role as is necessary for employees to gather the needed data? Is it just or fair to require them to provide data without empowering them to do so? If a truly-valid concern is voiced and then ignored due to a leader’s data or delivery requirement, who bears the responsibility for that problem’s current existence?
Integrity & Responsibility
- Are we responsible for our current state, or is everything the fault of our employees? Do we share credit? Do we accept blame? Do we hoard credit to ourselves, while forcing blame on our reports? If we must take credit for errors and failure, is it fair to assume we are responsible to correct the items?
- Is it possible for managers or any leader of a modern business to put themselves into a position where The Emperor has no clothes? What steps lead down that path? What symptoms might exist? How could we measure this? How many symptoms do we display? If we are going down that path, what steps can we take to remediate it? How could we measure success? How could we prevent it in the future?