What I want to try outline in this post is how to highlight an issue or possible outcomes which may not be easy to see within a situation. I have found that when explaining potential problems people, they will understand the problem if they come to the same conclusion by themselves. For them to come to there own conclusion on the problem it means we can't tell them what the issue is but we show them by asking questions.
There will be a few question we can ask to get the other person to understand our point of view. The first question that we want ask is to start getting the other person into the same mindset as you. In general this question I like have just a simple yes answer type question. The question is designed to relax the other person, this first question is easy. It is important that the first question is some what related to the main issue you want to raise but not directly that question.
The second question is interesting, it allows the other person to correct your thinking or so they think. In the second question you need to ask a question where the answer is No and the other person starts to explain why the answer is no. But you do need to know the correct answer, your just asking the question as if you don't. This question is closer to the problem area and allows for two things. One it gets the other person thinking, they have to put some work into the conversation. The other thing it allows to re-explain their answer back to them in your own words. This lets the other person know you understood what they were saying.
What we now have is two questions after been asked which are related and leading to the actual possible issue. The first question was designed to relax and start the other person thinking. The second question we intentionally ask to be corrected by the other person. This will get them active and happy to correct you. You explaining this back to them lets them be happy with the answer to the question. It's at this point we can ask the last question.
The third question will raise actual issue. When asking this question you want to relate it back to the first and second question. Doing this should get the other person to think about how the first and second questions kind of contradiction each other. If the other person makes the link and sees the issue you are trying to highlight, they real understand the issue been pointed out. Some times it will happen that they don't quite see the issue and you have to explain it a bit more. But in these case I have seen the other person hang on every word that's been said as they know there is an issue that they are not seeing.
What I have found good with this method is everyone's mind becomes active and in the same place when it comes to working on the problem. The couple of questions before hand warms minds and your not spring this issue on the other person. I have great success doing this method to raise issue that are hard to explain, hard to see and a bit out of left field.
Let's try do an example. This hard to give a good strong example as you would need knowledge in a subject matter. Which is hard to convey in a short post.
So the scenario.
It's 2011 you and a project manager needs to travel to England for a meeting with a client. It will be fly out in the morning and back that afternoon. There had been an issue with the initial date of Wednesday the 6th of April, the client had double booked. So the client asked us to book new dates which we did for the Friday the 29th of April. The client was happy with this, they had no other bookings. With this confirmed the project manager moves the flight dates.
You to the project manager: Can I ask you a few questions? Something is not seating right with me.
Project Manager: Sure what's on your mind!
You: The other meeting for the 6th was cancelled due to a double booking?
PM: Yes, that was the case.
You: So were are moving it two weeks later to Wednesday 20th?
PM: No, it's on the 29th which is the Friday. The client has a clear calendar that day but super busy before hand. I have already move the flights.
You: Ok, I understand it's the 29th we are flying out on, Which is the Friday.
PM: Yes.
You: The 29th, could that be a bank holiday in England due to the royal wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton? Would explain why the client has no other meetings that day.
PM: Oh, yes, maybe, I don't know. We need check this.
The example above is simple and didn't need to use the three different question to get to the point but it does out line the flow quite nicely. It does show how an issue could be missed, how often do royal weddings happen? And with us not been in England, while yes the wedding was all over the media it didn't affect our daily work lives. Expect that one meet which was happening in England.
To wrap up the first question we ask is the yes question, "The other meeting for the 6th was cancelled due to a double booking?". This is to kick start the other persons mind to the area you need it to be. For the second question we pretend have the wrong information, "So were are moving it two weeks later to Wednesday 20th?". This allows the other person to correct you and you now know they are listening. Next you explain their answer back to them, "Ok, I understand it's the 29th we are flying out on, Which is the Friday.". This lets the other person be comfortable knowing you understood there answer. Then lastly you ask the third question, "The 29th, could that be a bank holiday in England due to the royal wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton?". This does work best if you can reference the first and second questions in the start of the third question.
I used this method to great affect for years. Hopefully you found this interesting. And if you do use this method, give some feedback below on how it went for you.
