How to Ask Better Questions (Harvard Business Review)

How to Ask Better Questions
3:53 PM Wednesday May 6, 2009
by Judith Ross

Tags:One of your direct reports walks into your office looking for help: the rollout of the new line of Web-based products she is managing is falling behind schedule. All the prototypes have been created and beta tested, but she is having trouble getting final sign-off from the VP of IT. Deadlines have come and gone, and no amount of reminding or cajoling will get him to focus on her project.

As her manager, what should you do? If your first instinct is to suggest a solution, think again.

Although providing employees with answers to their problems often may be the most efficient way to get things done, the short-term gain is overshadowed by long-term costs. By taking the expedient route, you impede direct reports' development, cheat yourself of access to some potentially fresh and powerful ideas, and place an undue burden on your own shoulders. When faced with an employee's problem, you can respond in a much more value-adding way: by asking the right questions, help her find the best solution herself. We aren't talking about asking just any questions but, rather, employing questions that inspire people to think in new ways, expand their range of vision, and enable them to contribute more to the organization.

Questions packing this kind of punch are usually open-ended — they're not looking for a specific answer. Often beginning with "Why," "How," or "What do you think about...," they are questions that set the stage for subordinates to discover their own solutions, increasing their competence, their confidence, and their ownership of results.

Here is a framework for asking the right questions at the right time to create clarity and agreement around issues and to empower your direct reports.

Ask the right kind of questions
The word "empower" gets bandied about so much that one could be forgiven for overlooking what it actually means: to imbue someone with power, to instill in the individual a sense of his own strength and efficacy. "When the boss asks for a subordinate's ideas, he sends the message that they are good — perhaps better than his. The individual gains confidence and becomes more competent," says Michael J. Marquardt, a professor of human resources and international affairs at George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) and author of Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing What to Ask (John Wiley & Sons, 2005).

But an empowering question does more than convey respect for the person to whom it's posed. It actually encourages that person's development as a thinker and problem solver, thereby delivering both short-term and long-term value: the short-term value of generating a solution to the issue at hand and the long-term value of giving subordinates the tools to handle similar issues in the future independently.

A disempowering question, on the other hand, undercuts the confidence of the person to whom it's asked and sabotages her performance. Often, these types of questions focus on failure or betray that the questioner has an agenda.

The most effective and empowering questions create value in one or more of the following ways:

They create clarity: "Can you explain more about this situation?"
They construct better working relations: Instead of "Did you make your sales goal?" ask, "How have sales been going?"
They help people think analytically and critically: "What are the consequences of going this route?"
They inspire people to reflect and see things in fresh, unpredictable ways: "Why did this work?"
They encourage breakthrough thinking: "Can that be done in any other way?"
They challenge assumptions: "What do you think you will lose if you start sharing responsibility for the implementation process?"
They create ownership of solutions: "Based on your experience, what do you suggest we do here?"
Create a culture that embraces questions
To foster a culture in which questions are widely used to create value, begin by letting direct reports know that you value their queries. "For example, tell them to bring their best questions into their performance appraisal," Marquardt says. These might be questions they posed in the past year that led to new ideas and solutions for the company or questions they would like to ask you during the review to boost their own effectiveness and that of the unit or team.

Just as important, it is up to you as the leader to model the question-asking approach so that your team, in turn, will employ it with their own reports. For example, you can track how well the team is working together by asking questions like:

We've been working together for three hours today; what did we do best as a team?
What enabled us to be successful in coming up with an innovative strategy?
How can we ask better questions?
How can we apply what we are learning to other parts of our work?
What leadership skills helped us succeed today?
What you get by asking
While going into your team or one-on-one meetings with a list of questions rather than points to be made takes some thoughtful planning, the payoff can be huge. Marquardt experienced this himself when he was executive director of the former Arlington, Va.–based World Center for Development and Training.

He asked each of his direct reports, "What one idea and/or strategy that we are not currently implementing do you believe would best contribute to the success of our company?" The responses this question generated were amazing, he says. "We came up with a marketing strategy that I had never considered before and added a couple of new services for our customers," including a short-term certificate program and courses that blended classroom and online learning. As a result of his query, the group also examined new markets in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia and developed local partners in those regions. And because these were their ideas, Marquardt's direct reports were committed to putting them into action. "They accepted responsibility in designing, marketing, and implementing the new programs," he says.

By leading your team meetings with questions, you will also help eliminate ambiguity and create alignment around issues. "Most groups are not aligned when they come together," Marquardt says. "When a leader goes into a group and states a problem, everyone assumes that they understand the problem in the same way. In reality, that is false." If, for example, a product isn't selling, you may assume that it's because of a flawed marketing program. But what if others think it's a flawed product? You won't learn that without asking, "What do you think the issue is?" Without consensus on the problem, you can't define a strategy to address it. Asking such questions enables team members to understand one another's perspectives and agree on what they are dealing with.

What not to ask
Marquardt points out that, contrary to the business truism "There are no bad questions," several types of questions can have a negative effect on subordinates.

Questions focused on why a person did not or cannot succeed force subordinates to take a defensive or reactive stance and strip them of their power. Such questions shut down opportunities for success and do not allow people to clarify misunderstandings or achieve goals. These questions include:

Why are you behind schedule?
What's the problem with this project?
Who isn't keeping up?
Don't you know any better than that?
Leading questions seek a specific answer, one that puts the person being asked the question in a negative light, pushes through the questioner's agenda, or exerts social pressure to force agreement. Among their many downsides, leading questions such as the following inhibit direct reports from answering candidly and stifle honest discussion:

You wanted to do it by yourself, didn't you?
Don't you agree that John is the problem here?
Everyone else on the team thinks John is the problem. What about you?
While closed questions, which require specific answers, can be a good way to open and close a conversation, a whole string of them in a row, such as the following, will make subordinates feel they are being interrogated:

Is this a good time to talk?
What time is the meeting?
How many people are coming?
Who else will be there?
When will the report be ready?
Their success is your success
As you strive to lead by asking rather than telling, remember that leaders are only as successful as the people who report to them. By asking your direct reports the right questions, you can help them develop their ability to solve problems, their creativity, and their resourcefulness. Not only will their greater strength in these areas reflect well on you, but it also will enable them to better help you and the whole unit when fresh challenges arise.

"You don't have to have the answer to ask a great question," says Marquardt. "A great question will ultimately get an answer."

雷打不动地坚持15个饮食习惯 让你受益终生

进入新的学校，换了新的工作，甚至季节改变，都可能影响你的饮食习惯。不过，无论环境如何改变，只要你雷打不动地坚持以下15个小习惯，健康就不会离你远去。



　　1、复合维生素早饭后吃。研究表明，补充适合自己的复合维生素对身体健康大有裨益。那么，为什么要在早饭后吃呢?一来它可以提供人体一天所需，让你有精力投入工作学习，二来不至于给肾脏造成过大负担。

　　2、每餐之前喝两杯水。这样做就能保持身体一直处于“水当当”的状态，还能控制食量。荷兰一项研究显示，饭前喝两杯水能减少饥饿感和食物摄入量，从而起到减肥的作用。

　　3、把咖啡加在牛奶里，而不是把牛奶加在咖啡里。早起的第一件事，就是在杯子里倒满脱脂奶。然后喝掉1/5，再用咖啡把它填满。这样，你就能摄入人体每天所需的25%的维生素D和30%的钙。

　　4、吃完快餐喝一大杯水。快餐里的热量和盐一般都严重超标，虽然我们拿吃进肚里的脂肪没办法，但一大杯水可以帮你稀释体内钠的浓度，让你离高血压远一点。

　　5、不放弃每一个吃洋葱的机会。很多人吃菜时会小心翼翼地把洋葱挑出来，唯恐避之不及。这就大错特错了。洋葱含有大量保护心脏的类黄酮，因此，吃洋葱应该成为我们的责任。尤其在吃烤肉这样不怎么健康的食品时，里面的洋葱就是你的“救命草”。

　　6、有条件的话，用凉水泡红茶。最近美国农业部研究发现，与青菜或胡萝卜相比，一份红茶中含有更多的抗氧化物质，它可以有效帮助你抵抗皱纹或癌症的侵扰。凉水可使茶中的有益物质在不被破坏的情况下，慢慢溶出，你所要做的只是多等待一会儿。

　　7、下午三点，准时加餐。也许赖床可以成为你不吃早餐的理由，但下午三点的加餐就不能用任何借口推托了。在午餐和晚餐之间补充营养，可以帮你度过一天中最疲劳的时期。酸奶、水果、饼干都是不错的选择。

　　8、橘子带着“白丝”吃。很多人吃橘子时都会把橘子上的“白丝”剥掉。其实，这里面含有丰富的黄酮类物质，对身体大有裨益。苦中带甜的口味，仔细品尝其实并不差。

　　9、每天订个喝水任务量。忙碌的工作会让你在口干舌燥时，才想起一上午都没喝水。在办公桌上准备一个1.5升的大瓶子，把一天要喝的水倒在里面，给自己规定喝完才能下班。

　　10、买水果时拿不定主意，就选深色的那种。虽说水果的外观五花八门，但要衡量健康性，深色水果肯定更胜一筹，因为里面含有更多的抗氧化剂。当你摇摆不定时，选择李子、乌梅这类黑色的水果准没错。

　　11、用热水漂洗肉块。在切块的肉上铺一层厚纸巾，可以吸收油脂。如果你想去得更干净，可以把肉块放在漏勺里，用热水漂洗。使用这种方法，可以去掉大约一半的脂肪。

　　12、把拌凉菜改为蘸凉菜。不是只有烤肉热量高，酱汁一样会给原本健康的凉拌菜带来不少热量。所以，把调好的酱汁放在一个小碗里，用切好的菜蘸着吃，这样，你需要的酱汁只是原来的1/6。

　　13、有些“素”菜要“荤”着吃。油吃多了不好，但一点不吃更不好。南瓜、胡萝卜中含有大量的β—胡萝卜素，因此不能吃得太清淡。用油炒或凉拌都可以，如果南瓜用来煮粥，那么保证其他菜里有油，让它们到肠胃里会合。

　　14、晚餐更要打好脂肪保卫战。有些人早餐、午餐不吃含脂肪食物，认为晚餐多吃含脂肪食物，这种想法是错误的。研究表明，在一顿饭摄入50—80克脂肪后的几个小时，血管弹性降低，血液凝血因子急剧上升。所以，即使白天吃得很清淡，也不要试图在晚上补偿自己。

　　15、睡前吃些高纤维食品。麻省理工学院博士朱蒂斯·沃特曼说：“睡前半小时吃些低热量的碳水化合物零食有助于睡眠。”食用谷类食品是最简单的补充纤维的方法，而大多数人每天摄入的纤维量只有身体需要量(25—35克)的一半，所以，建议抓住睡前的最后时刻补充一下。

Google's new feature: options: wonder wheel

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=ww%3A1&q=Jingdong+Wang&tbo=1

It will suggest the related queries for you.

The suggested queries are most a labeling for me, including academic terms, my univeristy, and my classmate.

无题

好久没有更新我的blog了，其实有很多东西想记录下来。

今天刚刚参加完MSRA和清华大学联合举办的internet service workshop multimedia session, 我讲了今年上半年的一个工作，transductive multi-labeling learning for video concept detection, 之后我们有大概一个小时左右的free discussion, 认识了不少内地高校的老师，西安交大的，复旦的，天津大学的，还有武大的，这些老师有做multimeida的，有做computer vision的，做learning的有，不过很少。一个比较可惜的事，就是似乎没怎么见到的清华的，当时也邀请了我在清华的导师，可是他正好有事没有能够参加，甚为遗憾。然后晚上我们team 5个人，和来自香港，台湾，新加坡的三个professor还有另外2个内地professor，在海底捞腐败了一下。

忘了今天比较有意思的事情。winston见到说，guojun qi都要毕业了，你还没有毕业啊，然后碰到西安交大的老师也问我是不是intern。看来我浑身散发的还是学生气。

这段时间一直比较忙，星期二刚刚忙完了WWW的paper，然后又开始今年的CVPR，可惜的是，到现在为止我也只是写了几行的abstract，不过还好核心算法部分应该基本ready了，只是怎么组织起来的问题，我想虽然还有2个星期不到的时间，但是应该是能够顺利完成的，给自己设个deadline吧，下周二完成introduction，然后周末完成所有的东西，比较好的是，下周似乎没有什么琐碎的事，会耽搁paper writing。

特别想抽时间仔细谈谈工作的感受。这里就概括说几句吧。总的说来，我更加喜欢现在的research topics，更喜欢这里的氛围，... 不过啊，还有个不同的地方，运动的机会少了，以前在学校一个星期可以打三次的羽毛球，现在一周只能挤出一次了。说到羽毛球，又想到了HKUST那些球友们了，和球友们打球愉快的时光，甚为想念，...

擂台赛瞬间之三

zz. Revamped Google Picasa site identifies photo faces

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-10026577-39.html

今夕何夕啊

大学宿舍6人