The High Price of Asking the Wrong Questions

"𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴."

In Geoff Woods ’ 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘐 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳, one principle stands out —asking the 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 questions comes with a cost.

1. 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 – Limiting the field of vision instead of expanding it.

2. 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗤𝘂𝗼 – Keeping teams locked in outdated ways of thinking.

3. 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝗱 – Investing in flawed assumptions rather than real opportunities.

Yesterday, I wrote about clarity and clear questioning when creating AI prompts. Today, I want to highlight how AI plays into this. AI can either 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 by surfacing new insights, or 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 if trained on flawed data or guided by poor prompts.

So, what makes a 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 question?

• It’s aligned with your goals or the problem at hand.

• It’s simple and clear.

• It sparks deeper thinking.

Here’s a project management example: imagine a team struggling with missed deadlines. The 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 question might be, “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳?” This assumes the issue is effort. A 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 question could be, “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴?” or “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴?” The first question narrows perspective and risks blame; the second invites solutions and reveals opportunities to improve processes, resource alignment, or stakeholder engagement.

How about you? What’s a powerful question you’ve seen transform a project or decision?

When leaders fail to challenge assumptions or the status quo, they risk stagnation and miss the chance for true innovation. The best questions don’t just find answers — they open doors to possibilities.