A Questioning Culture

How do you make the most of the gifts, experiences, and passions of those in your organization? By encouraging questions. Whether you are leading a church, a judicatory, or a not-for-profit organization, asking questions and providing an opportunity for everyone to ask questions, provides a pathway to growth, excellence, and sustainability.

In Leading with Questions, Bob Tiede and Michael J. Marquardt suggest developing a questioning culture in every organization. A questioning culture has six hallmarks. When an organization has a questioning culture, the people in it:

Are willing to admit “I don't know.”
Go beyond allowing questions; they encourage questions.
Are helped to develop the skills needed to ask questions in a positive way.
Focus on asking empowering questions and avoid disempowering questions.
Emphasize the process of asking questions and searching for answers rather than finding the “right” answers.
Accept and reward risk taking.

This is not something that happens overnight and requires confident, visionary leadership. How many of us have been in informational meetings where we discovered quickly that questions were not expected? I have seen more than one creative person squelched because they sought deeper understanding or wanted to share an insight.

Perhaps the first step in creating a questioning culture in your setting is asking hard questions of yourself. A coach can provide the opportunity for experiencing and practicing powerful questions. Give it a try!

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