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Tag: ask questions

I Asked A Ton Of Questions.

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

One of my favorite parts from Kobe Bryant’s The Mamba Mentality How I Play book is the page with the heading I Asked A Ton Of Questions. In that page, Kobe shares:

I asked a ton of questions.

I was curious. I wanted to improve, learn, and fill my head with the history of the game. No matter who I was with—a coach, hall of famer, teammate—and no matter the situation—game, practice, vacation—I would fire away with question after question.

A lot of people appreciated my curiosity and passion. They appreciated that I wasn ’t just asking to ask, I was genuinely thirsty to hear their answers and glean new info. Some people, meanwhile, were less understanding and gracious. That was fine with me. My approach always was that I’d rather risk embarrassment now than be embarrassed later, when I’ve won zero titles.

Image by : Andrew D. Bernstein

Can you learn how to ask better questions?

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

You certainly can. Asking questions is a skill. As with all skills, it can be learned and used everyday.

If you want to ask better questions, you can learn them if you care deeply enough about it. There are many ways to become better at asking questions. One simple technique is by starting to ask questions as you go about your day. Nothing complicated. Just start by building a habit to ask one question. Let’s take some regular day to day scenarios. If you grab a coffee and bagel from your local bakery, ask the person at the counter a question. It could be as simple as “how are you doing today?” At work, if you are in a meeting, make it a point to ask one question related to the topic of discussion. If you are in a group discussion, prepare questions and ask at least one question.

When you are working to become better at asking questions, you are essentially building a new habit. You want to look for consistency and simplicity is the key. Everyday you ask one question no matter where you are or what you are doing, you keep building the questioning muscle. Overtime you will build more confidence and have less anxiety to ask questions.

Here are some good resources that dive deeper into questions:

The Surprising Power of Questions | Harvard Business Review

The art of asking the right questions | Tim Ferriss, Warren Berger, Hope Jahren & more | Big Think

We are also starting our Ask Better Questions Workshop soon. If you want to learn the art and science of asking good questions, ask questions that show curiosity and empathy, and develop better relationships with your audience, this is a workshop you can join.

Experienced learner

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

The saying goes “Experience is the best teacher.”

With experience, comes confidence, knowledge, and a good sense of intuition. When you get hired, you get paid for your “experience.” Can you tell us about your experience managing teams or projects is a common question at job interviews. Employers’ believe that a new hire with relevant experience will take their company to new heights. As much as experience is valued and it should be, another asset is to also have a learner’s mindset. When you can count on your experience, you should and when you are not sure then you should approach people who know/research the topic/ask tons of questions.

Become an experienced learner.

Ask questions

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding as stated inThe Surprising Power of Questions on Harvard Business Review.

There are so many benefits to asking questions as the article above points out. We don’t ask enough questions. It’s a habit worth developing and honing.

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