'Can we fix it' is the right question to ask - Telegraph - 0 views
www.telegraph.co.uk/...the-right-question-to-ask.html
motivation doubt danpink assumptions quotes learning
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Most of us believe in positive self-talk. "I can achieve anything," we mouth to the mirror in the morning. "Nobody can stop me," we tell ourselves before walking into a big meeting.
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But not Bob. Instead of puffing up himself and his team, he first wonders whether they can actually achieve their goal. In asking his signature question – Can we fix it? – he introduces some doubt.
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The outcome was the same. People "primed" with Will I solved nearly twice as many anagrams as people in the other three groups.
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"In addition, asking questions forces you to define if you reallywant something and probably think about what you want, even in the presence of obstacles."
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"When you create something, you can fall in love with it and aren't able to see or hear anything contrary. Whatever comes out of your mouth is all you're inhaling," she says. "But when you ask a question – Will I? – you're creating an opening. You're inviting a conversation – whether it's self-conversation or a conversation with others."
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His business is a series of projects – many of them unexpected, most of them hazily-defined – that require people to collaborate, fashion solutions on the fly and contend with surly customers. By asking "Can we fix it?", Bob widens the possibilities. Only then – once he's explored the options and examined his assumptions – does he elicit a rousing "Yes, we can" from his team and everyone gets to work.
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Do we teach this to our students? Do we use the strategy ourselves? Here's the annotated link: http://diigo.com/0bj1y
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