Questions That Work

What's wrong with this picture? On the one hand, a passive, unquestioning attitude is considered detrimental to a person's career and to an organization's growth. On the other hand, focused, probing questions are rarely encouraged, and the skills needed to ask them almost never taught.
Questions That Work is here to change that. Written by a seasoned business reporter and manager, this provocative “questioning manifesto” and practical “how-to” book gives people the insights and tools to ask thoughtful questions in every realm of their professional lives. It is also a powerful tool to help business leaders create a progressive environment where questions flow freely and creatively—boosting knowledge and performance at all levels of the organization.
Best yet, the book supplies hundreds of pre-prepared, carefully crafted questions that readers can use to find the right job, negotiate the best pay, hire the right team, sell an idea, get a promotion, and much more.
When companies collapse, it is often a lack of questioning that contributed to the crisis. When careers falter, it is a lack of questions that created the failure. In the words of the author: “Your success depends on what questions you ask. Workers of the world, question!”
Sommaire

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Pt. I A Questioning Manifesto
• Ch. 1 The Essential Skill 3
• Ch. 2 Why We Don't Ask Questions 27
• Ch. 3 The Questioning Culture 37
• Ch. 4 Learning a Skill 47
• Ch. 5 Raising Your I.Q.Q 53
• Pt. II New Work, New Questions
• Ch. 6 Questions That Work When: Looking for a Job 77
• Ch. 7 Questions That Work When: Taking on a New Job or Career Change 104
• Pt. III Questions at Work
• Ch. 8 Questions That Work When: Selling and Negotiating 115
• Ch. 9 Questions That Work When: Creativity and New Thinking Are Needed 138
• Ch. 10 Questions That Work When: Meeting and Planning 152
• Ch. 11 Questions That Work When: Hiring and Managing 174
• Ch. 12 Questions That Work When: Managing Your Career 207
• Ch. IV Crisis Questions
• Ch. 13 Questions That Work When: Dealing with a Problem 219
• Ch. 14 Questions That Work When: You Are Fired or Laid Off 239
• Ch. 15 Questions That Work When: You Are Put on the Spot 249
• Pt. V Questions When on Your Own
• Ch. 16 Questions That Work When: Starting Your Own Business 271
• Ch. 17 Questions That Work When: You Are Educating Yourself 289
• Pt. VI Leaders and Questions
• Ch. 18 Questions That Work When: Leading the Way 301
• Conclusion 325
• Notes 329
• Index 349