Asking Good Questions

I have been reading Peter Block's book on community for the past several weeks and am running across some interesting themes. One of such themes is the power of questions. Block suggests that those asking the questions in facilitating a conversation (meant to inspire community renewal) play a vital role in shaping the kinds of outcomes possible through these conversations.

In the tenth chapter of his book, entitled "Questions Are More Important than Answers," Block argues that "Transformation and restoration occur through the power of language, and how we speak and listen to each other." (101) While I don't believe that language alone is the vehicle for restoration (and perhaps neither does Block), this chapter draws upon some unconvential and titillating methods for developing meaningful conversation.

Here's some of what Block has to say on this subject of questions:

"Questions that are designed to change other people are the wrong questions. Wrong, not because they don't matter or are based on ill intent, but wrong because they reinforce the problem-solving model. They are questions that are the cause of the very thing we are trying to shift: the fragmented and retributive nature of our communities. The conversations about standards, measures, and the change needed in others destroy relatedness, and it is in this way that they work against belonging and community." (105)

Peter Block's words could pop a blood vessel or two, especially because they pierce to the heart of my own frustrations in writing, blogging, and building conversations (and I surmise yours as well): I often end up criticizing the world around me because I lament its brokenness, but in so doing fail to ask the kinds of questions that inspire it to actually change. Now, don't think i'm being too hard on myself. There are plenty of things that I write and say that I think are pretty thoughtful/profound, but most of these things are coming from a deep spring not founded in my own strength, and not usually when i'm trying really hard to change the status quo. The questions like "how can we fix the broken system?", the kind that not only I, but most of our country often asks, Block says, are the wrong ones. Instead, he suggests we should be asking questions like the following:

• What is the commitment you hold that brought you into this room?
• How valuable do you plan for this effort to be?
• What is the story you keep telling about the problems of this community?
• What is your contribution to the very thing you complain about? (106-107)

Why ask these kinds of questions instead of ones like those blotting the newsstands: "Are Bailouts Part of the Problem?" (New York Times), "Whom do you help when so many need it?" (Foreign Policy Magazine), "Does all her social networking actually make a difference?" (Forbes Magazine)??? Block says that "Powerful questions are the ones that cause you to become an actor as soon as you answer them." (106) In crafting them, he suggests using these three benchmarks:

It is ambiguous. There is no attempt to define what is meant by the question. That requires each person to bring their own, personal meaning into the room.

It is personal. All passion, commitment, and connection grow out of what is most personal. We need to create space for the personal.

It evokes anxiety. All that matters makes us anxious. It is our wish to escape from anxiety that steals our aliveness. If there is no edge to the question, there is no power. (106)

I might not go so far as Block in formulating my own opinion on this subject, but nonetheless i'm intrigued. What motivates the kinds of questions that you have been asking? And further, what kinds of questions stir your inmost soul?

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work referenced above: Block, P, (2008). Community: The structure of belonging. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.