{"id":1303,"date":"2014-12-31T14:27:51","date_gmt":"2014-12-31T21:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/?p=1303"},"modified":"2016-03-13T19:41:14","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T02:41:14","slug":"the-power-of-a-great-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/the-power-of-a-great-question\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of a Great Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

My youngest daughter is the master of asking questions. I often find that she uses it to make conversation when she doesn\u2019t know what else to talk about. At times, it can become annoying; however, at other times, it can be a great way for us to share our stories. She likes to ask about when her mom and I met, when we adopted her, and when I was a young child myself. We learn a lot about each other when we embrace the questions.<\/p>\n

I am learning that asking great questions is a powerful tool. I have a friend, Brock Meyer<\/a>, who I consider to be a master at asking questions. I can remember several lunch meetings with Brock where he pelted me with question after question about life, family, marriage, and ministry. He usually came with a notebook and would frequently write in it. Before we would\u00a0meet, I knew that he had spent time (ahead of time) thinking about what questions to ask. I would reflect back on our meetings and realized that I did most of the talking. Brock did most of the listening. This is because at the core, he is a learner. And he approaches every person as a valuable source of knowledge.<\/p>\n

Honestly, I wish I was as good at asking questions as Samara and Brock. While I typically refrain from New Year\u2019s resolutions, I think this would be a good one for all of us \u2014 to resolve to ask more questions. So I have begun to ask myself, \u201cWhy ask questions?\u201d<\/p>\n

Questions indicate you are more interested in\u00a0the other person than yourself.<\/b><\/h2>\n

You have probably been in conversations similar to what I described. You find that are spending the entire time talking about yourself while the other person listens (or at least appears to be).\u00a0 Asking questions will force us to care more about someone else\u2019s story than our own. It will force us to think about what could be interesting about the other person. It will require us to think ahead of time and not just \u201cshow up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Questions will cause us to learn.<\/b><\/h2>\n

Talking all the time only demonstrates what we already know. However, listening requires us to learn something knew. The most unlikely person has a story from which we can learn. Even other\u2019s failures can become a great teacher. I think all of us would be surprised how much we could learn if we were to ask more questions.<\/p>\n

Questions remind us that we don\u2019t have all the answers and might even be . . .\u00a0 WRONG!<\/b><\/h2>\n

Often times we can begin to believe that all of the knowledge we\u2019ve gained over the years now qualifies us to be an expert on a particular subject. We usually equate \u201cbeing an expert\u201d with \u201chaving all the answers.\u201d The truth is we are always learning. I was recently reminded of a TED talk<\/a> that I watched a few years ago by Kathryn Schultz. The premise is that most of us avoid being wrong because we don\u2019t like that feeling. Asking questions reminds us that we don\u2019t have the answers, and if we think that we do, we are likely wrong. The possibility of being wrong is an attitude that promotes true learning.<\/p>\n

So . . . as we enter this new year, I want to get better at asking questions. I want to listen more. To help get the discussion going, what are your favorite questions to ask that spark a great conversation?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My youngest daughter is the master of asking questions. I often find that she uses it to make conversation when she doesn\u2019t know what else to talk about. At times, it can become annoying; however, at other times, it can be a great way for us to share our stories. She likes to ask about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/dexmedia.jpg?fit=848%2C565&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pzg9k-l1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":211559,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/responding-to-feedback-strategies-for-effective-growth\/","url_meta":{"origin":1303,"position":0},"title":"Responding to Feedback: Strategies for Effective Growth","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"April 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Feedback can feel personal and challenging, often seeming like a direct attack on one's identity. However, understanding that feedback reflects behavior and perception, rather than core identity, is crucial. Acknowledging that others\u2019 perceptions can differ from intentions allows an opportunity for growth. 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We've all had days where things didn't go quite like we expected. We had a plan and that plan was in motion. Suddenly everything gets changed. I had a week like that recently. Things were moving along when suddenly the brakes got applied by someone else driving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main"","block_context":{"text":"Main","link":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/category\/main\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1527,"url":"https:\/\/jonplotner.com\/v1\/a-few-thoughts-about-anti-social-media\/","url_meta":{"origin":1303,"position":2},"title":"A Few Thoughts about “Anti-Social” Media","author":"Jon Plotner","date":"November 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you've been on social media for more than five minutes, you know that it can be hotbed for lively discussion. Particularly in the last few weeks it seems that conversations have become more heated. More volatile. More opinionated. More political. More personal. Less kind. Less loving. 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