Andrew Finlayson loves asking the right questions. In fact, his
inquisitive nature led to the idea for his first book on, you
guessed it, asking questions in today's business world.
Actually, he's made a career of asking questions as the news
director of KTVU Channel Two in the San Francisco Bay Area, a
station with the highest-rated late-night news show in its
region.
In his
book, Questions That Work, available at Amazon.com or at the Questions That Work Web
site, Finlayson goes over all the steps of how entrepreneurs
can benefit from asking the right questions. Each of 18 chapters in
the book offers a different approach to the practice, from asking
fair questions to not worrying about asking stupid ones. Here,
Finlayson relates his philosophy to entrepreneurship. Any
questions?
Entrepreneur.com: What led
you to want to write this book?
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Andrew Finlayson: In the
line of work I've been in, I've had a chance to meet with
people who were successful. I listened to the questions. I saw that
they were learning from other people's mistakes. I started to
gather these questions and asked people what their favorite
questions to ask were. I realized I had something here I should
share with other people. As I started to talk to these people, I
found a common denominator: The most successful workplaces were the
ones with a positive questioning-attitude culture.
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Entrepreneur.com: In your
book, you talk about the different components that go into asking
good questions. How did you come up with these?
Finlayson: I spoke with
personal coaches, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, you name it, and
I [discovered] all their question-asking techniques and analyzed
what made them better than mine. They followed steps, and [I've
included the components of these steps] in the book: 1) awareness;
2) ability (who has the knowledge); 3) atmosphere (when and where
to ask questions); 4) attitude (how to phrase and present
questions); 5) answer (did you get the one you needed?); 6)
appreciation (did you form a relationship and thank them?); and 7)
action (the process is pointless unless you can take action from
your questions). This book gets you closer to making a decision and
then taking action.
Entrepreneur.com: What
approach do you take to ask positive and focused questions?
Finlayson: I liken it to a
golf swing. We can all swing a golf club, but there's a big
difference between you, me and Tiger Woods. The pros break down how
to handle their swing. The same thing goes with a question. If you
break it down and then master it, you'll have one smooth
stroke.
Entrepreneur.com: What do
you think about so-called dumb questions?
Finlayson: Many bosses like
to start conversations with "there are no dumb
questions." Truthfully, the best questions are the simple,
dumb ones. And it does no good to ask questions if people
aren't listening to the answers. Questions that put you on the
spot and are designed to make you bleed in front of your co-workers
are very poor practice, and you see that sometimes. Teachers are
often guilty of that. They try to get right answers, but how about
trying to focus on the right questions?