I’m enjoying this little streak of simplicity practices and core messages that has emerged over the last three days of posting for me. First on Open Space. Then on five practices for creating a network at Kufunda.
This one is from an exchange between my friends Chris Corrigan and Peggy Holman as they talk about the importance of questions and creative leadership. I particularly like it because when practiced, these leadership acts shift the culture. When practiced at scale, magic!
Some tips for asking possibility-oriented questions:
1. Ask questions that increase clarity: Positive images move us toward positive actions. Questions that help us to envision what we want help us to realize it.
2. Practice turning deficit into possibility: In most ordinary conversations, people focus on what they can’t do, what the problems are, what isn’t possible. Such conversations provide an endless source for practicing the art of the question. When someone says, “The problem is x,” ask, “What would it look like if it were working?” If someone says, “I can’t do that,” ask, “What would you like to do?”
3. Recruit others to practice with you: You can have more fun and help each other grow into the habit of asking possibility-oriented questions. But watch out: it can be contagious. You might attract a crowd.