About Purpose is about your purpose.
Aim: Identify and articulate your purpose.
Arm: Shape yourself around your purpose.
Act: Achieve your purpose.
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What makes an effective question?
For the most part, questions ought to be open-ended, that is, they should invite thoughtful responses, additional information, and/or personal insight. By contrast, aclosed-ended questions invite a yes/no, or a single, factual answer. "Did you have a good day?" "What color are your eyes?"
Questioning – THE Essential Business Skill
Bob Ryan, About Purpose, Inc. ©2009 
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Have you ever seen a business article written about asking questions? May I tell you why learning the art of questioning may be the most important business skill you will ever learn?
Much of our communication during any given day is in the form of statements, yet mastering the ability to ask effective, constructive questions has many benefits for the workplace, your social setting, your relationships, politics, etc. Here are some examples of how well-crafted questions (*See Sidebar) can result in substantive improvements.
Increasing creativity – Use questions rather than statements to tap into your employees’, customers’ and vendors’ creativity. Statements indicate a “same as always” approach, while questions open up new avenues of thought.
The Statement: Create a new catalog for the spring line.
The Question: What methods could we employ that would better capture our customers’ interest and invite them to buy our spring line?
Improving ethics – Use questions rather than statements to test values and beliefs against actual behaviors. Equipping and empowering everyone involved to ask questions insures a more comprehensive look at how your values play out.
The Statement: Our company believes in and encourages family values.
The Question: How do each of our policies and procedures affect our employees’ and customers’ families and do they extend beyond our doors into our community?
Improving financial stability – Use questions rather than statements to avoid falling into the trap of assuming any course of action is the right one.
The Statement: We need to cut costs in order to make ends meet.
The Question: What approaches can we use to improve our ability to keep our [company, family, city, etc.] running smoothly?
Countering unintended consequences – Use questions before taking final action on anything to foresee the outcomes of your actions. Start by assuming you’ve not thought of everything and your questions may help you avoid the “law of unintended consequences.”
The Statement: After some study we have decided to implement the following solutions.
The Question: Putting ourselves in the place of each of our many stakeholders, what are the possible unforeseen effects of the actions we propose to take?
These are just a few examples. I urge you to start working on your questioning skills today. Before you start your next meeting; before you make your next phone call; before you head home to the family, think through how some well-thought-out questions can change the outcomes of those interactions.
Finally, a quick “horn-tooting.” A good consultancy, like About Purpose, Inc., earns its living by asking insightful questions and causing the client to really think through the answers. Well-run peer advisory groups, like The Alternative Board®, are marked by thoughtful, probing and respectful questions. Strong, practical ethics programs, like SWiM® Starting With Me™, creates an environment in which the asking of questions is the accepted culture.