The second question. The second question is so much more important than the first.
DON’T accept the first answer and move on. This is what most people do, and you’ll miss 90% of the detail that you need.
The 1st answer is like gurgling! It’s the foreward to a book. A little general, but necessary.
BUT the second answer… OH, that’s SOOO much better.
Like this; e.g.
‘How are things going with X …? ‘
2nd question;
‘Can you tell me more about that?’
3rd question; (even better)
‘Is there anything else?’
If you want a decent understanding of what’s going on; in your team, with a person, with your client, whatever, it’s the 2nd question, and maybe even the 3rd, that counts.
It’s like a mixture of time and thought. You have to be able to take the other person on a journey through their thoughts, until they reach the place where they can explain it.
Don’t expect the other person’s engine to start without first starting the ignition.
You wouldn’t start a car that way, would you?
