The Question Behind the Question by John G. Miller
What to really ask yourself to eliminate blame, complaining, and procrastination.
Have you ever heard questions like these?. Why doe we have to go through all this change?
. When is somebody going to train me?
. Who dropped the ball?
. Who's going to solve the problem?
. When is that department going to do its job right?
. When are they going to tell us what's going on?
Now it's time to ask The Question Behind the Question
. How can I adapt to the changes?
. What can I do to develop myself?
. How can I help?
. What can I do to understand other people's challenges and frustrations?
. How can I become part of the solution?
. What can I do today to excel at my work?
Some of us read this book 3 years ago, but it is a great read, whether you've read before or not.
This will be an open forum for reading and discussions. No assigned readings.
Read on!
What to really ask yourself to eliminate blame, complaining, and procrastination.
Have you ever heard questions like these?. Why doe we have to go through all this change?
. When is somebody going to train me?
. Who dropped the ball?
. Who's going to solve the problem?
. When is that department going to do its job right?
. When are they going to tell us what's going on?
Now it's time to ask The Question Behind the Question
. How can I adapt to the changes?
. What can I do to develop myself?
. How can I help?
. What can I do to understand other people's challenges and frustrations?
. How can I become part of the solution?
. What can I do today to excel at my work?
Some of us read this book 3 years ago, but it is a great read, whether you've read before or not.
This will be an open forum for reading and discussions. No assigned readings.
Read on!
8 comments:
I am going out to get this book to start reading so that I can post thoughts with you guys. This is a very interesting book it appears because I think the accountablity is lost probably 90% of the time when situations come to light in business. I look forward to reading this book and hopefully having some great discussions on this book with everyone.
I just bought the book this weekend and got to read the introduction. I can already relate to what was said. Hopefully I can use the info. in this book to introduce changes with the people around me and also in myself.
I love the illustration given in the first chapter. How fun and magnetic Jacob's enthusiasm is! The best part about it is that you know that Jacob isn't acting that way because he wants a good tip. That enthusiasm overflows to the other areas of his life, as well. It just goes back to what John Miller was saying in the beginning - once you start asking the QBQ, the benefits will pour into all aspects and areas of your life.
THAT'S Exciting!
Asking QBQ questions are an excellent way to live out our company values.
Jim Collins, in his book Good-to-Great, states that a Level 5 Leader will look in the mirror to cast blame and point through a window to give praise. But, what do we say to the mirror?....
When faced with a problem or frustration, our natural tendencies are to jump to questions like “Why is this happening to me?” or “When will others do things right?” Yet, focusing on everything and everyone except the person asking them, they demonstrate a lack of personal accountability.
It is only when we stop and look “behind” those first questions that we find better ones..the QBQs such as “what can I do” and “how can I contribute?”
Asking these questions turns the focus back to ourselves and to what we can do to make a difference.
The underlying cocept of the QBA is…”the answers are in the questions.” Thus, by asking better questions, we get better answers….and these questions are questions we ask ourselves, not of others.
We can only really change ourselves…QBQ is primarily a self-management tool, designed to help us reframe our own thinking.
You’ll be the same 5 years from now, as you are today, except for…....(you’ve heard it before!)
Join me in the journey…live out the values.
Robin, an anesthesiologist, consults with mothers, performs procedures, and is available for emergency deliveries.
One morning around 3am , I was called to the hospital to perform an epidural on a very distressed mother who was in the middle of a tough labor.
The midwife had tried and failed to insert an intravenous line, so I had an additional procedure to perform. And I had some trouble with it, too.
Suddenly, just after I had secured the IV line, the mother said, “I want to push!” The midwife did a quick examination and confirmed she was about to deliver. “I’m sorry,” she told me, slighty embarressed. “We don’t need the epidural after all.”
“That’s wonderful!” I responded. The midwife stared at me. Her eyes seemed to say, “What’s the catch?” She was probably thinking Who are you, and what have you done with the real Robin?
I used to get angry in these situations – being called all the way to the hospital, then turned away because someone had misjudged the labor. “Stupid midwives!” I’d want to shout. But now – since reading QBQ! – when these things happen I find joy by focusing on the positives. In this case, the labor was going better than expected, and I could get back to bed sooner. Also, the midwife was doing her very best. Medicine is unpredictable, and these surprises happen all the time.
Later that day, the same midwife came to me and asked, “Can I talk to you, please? There’s an issue that’s been bothering me.” We then discussed a problem that had persisted for some time, which involved differing perspectives between midwives and doctors. Afgter we talked it through, she volunteered to do a whole pile of things that supported the strategies we as a leadership team had already planned to implement.
This may not sound like much, but she’d never approached me like that before. I was actually taken aback at first. What was this about? Why the sudden change? But then I realized – I had changed. I had used the QBQ to be more positive, and that’s why she suddenly felt comfortable coming to me. Now we have her onboard with our new program. That’s teamwork. And around here, teamwork is everything!
By choosing to be personally accountable, I have clearly gained something precious in my life. Thank you John Miller and QBQ!
Adapted from “Flipping the Switch”
From: John G. Miller [mailto:John@QBQ.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 9:10 AM
Subject: QBQ! On Top of the World
QBQ! (The Question Behind the Question) QuickNote
QBQ! QuickNotes™ may be forwarded by email to others or printed in their entirety for personal and group use. © QBQ, Inc. 2007. All rights reserved.
For those of us who would be willing to go to the "ends of the Earth" for great service, Mike might just have the place for us. It's only 2,116 miles north of my home in Denver, CO, USA! Enjoy.
John G. Miller
-------------------
John, I run a visitor center in Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada. We’re pretty hard to find on anyone’s Atlas. We greet people from all over the world who want to experience the spectacular rapids of the Slave River or local Aboriginal culture and history. Countless times we’ve had opportunities to use QBQ! in working with visitors. Although QBQ! is presented as personal accountability content, it has very direct application in our customer service model as we help each visitor have a safe, enjoyable trip to our park and community. Here's how we're applying it:
Rather than ask: “Why do many visitors come unprepared?” We ask The Question Behind the Question (QBQ):“What can I do to help this customer have a safe and memorable experience?”
Often visitors arrive here not ready for the trip they had imagined. It might be the lack of a plan, few skills, poor equipment, or little knowledge. Believe it or not we have had visitors arrive during sub zero temps wanting to camp, but without the right gear. Some visitors "plan" to go hiking and boating in a park the size of Switzerland without a map, sufficient food, drinking water, and equipment. We will meet with a visitor, assess their level of preparedness, and then recommend activities that will allow them to achieve their goals without taking too great a risk. We spend time ensuring they will have a positive and memorable experience. The majority of those who come not ready, leave very pleased.
Rather than ask: “Why should I talk about things to do outside our park?” We ask the QBQ: “How can I add to this visitor's experience by directing them to additional activities in our local area?”
To answer this QBQ, we guide visitors to discover the Catholic Mission site and grotto, the Northern Life Museum, the golf courses around the community, the trails to the rapids, and even a local Aboriginal carver. We find them opportunities to “flight-see” our stunning geography with local airlines. These are just a few of the “non-park” products that add to a visitors trip.
Rather than ask: “Why would I care if their car is not working properly or that someone in their party is ill?” We ask the QBQ: “What can I do to help them locate services they need to reduce their stress and get back to enjoying their holiday?”
An elderly French couple arrived in a rental RV having electrical problems. “Not my problem!” some might say, but we called a local garage and asked that they be given priority treatment as a visitor to our community. The garage complied but found a secondary problem with the vehicle. None of the mechanics spoke French and the couple spoke no English so they could not understand each other. I do speak some French so I rushed over to translate and in minutes we solved the problem. The visitors were ecstatic, hugging both the mechanic and myself. They went on their way singing the praises of Fort Smith and the park!
In short, this is what the QBQ! does:
Instead of being frustrated by unprepared, frustrated or angry visitors, we try to create a journey of discovery that leads to a pleasurable visitor experience. In meeting these people from all over the world, we often discover facts about them and their world and, in turn, share something about us and our world. This creates a bond which causes visitors to return to our center at the end of their visit—just before leaving our community—to thank the park staffer who helped them early in their stay.
John, we see application of QBQ! in almost all things we do even where we are ... barely on anyone’s Atlas.
Mike Keizer
Visitor Services Manager
Ft Smith, NT, Canada
Hello, QuickNote readers! John here. To all those who love QBQ! service, might I suggest a vacation at:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nt/woodbuffalo/index_E.asp
Great idea for a blog. I'd love to see this coninuted! dt
We had moved this blog "inside" to our company's discussion board, but at the suggestion of DT, we'll move it back here.
Thanks.
Post a Comment