John Gunkler wrote:
> Using "why" to get at value suppositions (justifications) and "how" to
> encourage implementation (action planning) are the two most important
> questions I use.
And, I would like to add, that I often have to be careful in how I ask
questions with the word "why" since it can easily be misunderstood as
assigning blame. "Why did you write this sentence this way?" will imply
that something is wrong with the writer or how he wrote the sentence. Just
to be safe, I like to try to substitute other words for "why" to make
absolutely sure that there is no misunderstanding, especially when
coaching or giving advice to a person that may tend to take things too
personally. For example, it might sound a tad unnatural, but I might ask
the same question as "Just so I can understand your viewpoint, how did you
go about coming up with this sentence?" or simply, "For you, what does
this sentence mean?" or something like that. And of course, the correct
tone, facial expression, etc. can change the meaning of why as well.
--Tony Padgett <anthony_padgett_za@mail.toyota.co.jp>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>