Fresh Ideas at Work » Ask A Different Question

Reverse Mentoring

freshideasatwork — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:53:03 +0000

To gain more current perspectives, try using the Fresh Ideas strategy ‘Ask a Different Question.‘

Instead of asking,

“How could I tap into the insights of some one more experienced than me?”

ask

“What could I learn from some one with less experience in this?”

The perspectives of the less experienced will be based on different assumptions than the ones you’ve developed over time.

A More Beautiful Question

freshideasatwork — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:43:57 +0000

Warren Berger is a kind of question connoisseur, taking on the Fresh Ideas strategy “Ask a Different Question” with a website that asks

“What kinds of questions have you encountered in your own life or work that spurred you on to meaningful change or innovation?”

You can find, post, and consider some illuminating and, yes, beautiful questions here.

Ask a Different Question

freshideasatwork — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:11:11 +0000

Subscribers to Fresh Ideas have been using different kinds of questions to shift and refocus their thinking, finding ways to inspire new ideas and new results with new questions.

This week’s Business Week includes a column by Marshall and Kelly Goldsmith that provides a good example of using a different question to get a better result. New research on drivers of adult happiness show a strong correlation between reported levels of happiness and meaning inside work and reported levels of happiness and meaning outside work. Since work and home environments tend to be very different, levels of happiness and meaning ”appear(s) to have more to do with who we are than where we are.”

To decrease dependency and increase satisfaction and commitment, they advise employers to stop asking, “What can the company do to increase employees’ experience of happiness and meaning at work?” and to start encouraging employees to ask themselves, “What can I do to increase my experience of happiness and meaning at work?”