Notes
How to make great question by Arnaud Chevallier, strategy professor at IMD Business School!
Richard Feynman said “Knowledge is having the right answers. Intelligence is asking the right QUESTIONS. Wisdom is knowing when to ask the right questions.”
Based on the author there are 5 types of questions to solve complex strategic problems:
Investigative → What is known about the problem or potential solutions - use the 5 “Whys”. Here you go deep,
Speculative → What if that allows innovative thinking, scenarios thinking. Here you go wide,
Productive → Now what kind of questions. Are we ready to decide, where are we vs. the plan,
Interpretative → So what type of questions e.g. What are we trying to achieve, what have we learnt,
Subjective → Question related with the decision makers. E.g. How do you feel about this problem, etc….
Few leaders have been trained to ask great questions. That might explain why they tend to be good at certain kinds of questions, and less effective at other kinds. Unfortunately, that hurts their ability to pursue strategic priorities. Arnaud Chevallier, strategy professor at IMD Business School, explains how leaders can break out of that rut and systematically ask five kinds of questions: investigative, speculative, productive, interpretive, and subjective. He shares real-life examples of how asking the right sort of question at a key time can unlock value and propel your organization. With his IMD colleagues Frédéric Dalsace and Jean-Louis Barsoux, Chevallier wrote the HBR article "The Art of Asking Smarter Questions."
