Ki Moments Blog

Support for life’s “key” moments.

Showing posts with the tag “Asking Useful Questions”

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  • July 17, 2018

    Questions in Service of the Asked

    Questions in Service of the Asked

    I first heard the phrase--"questions in service of the asked"--as a participant in a workshop with Essential Partners, originally the Public Conversations Project, in Boston. It took me some time--and a lot of practice--to figure out what it meant and how to do it.

    I've written previously about the power of inquiry, curiosity and discovery, of asking useful questions, and of acknowledging what you hear to make sure the "asked" knows you're listening. After almost 25 years of teaching, coaching, and my own experience in conflict situations (yes, I have them, too), I can still get stuck on what questions to ask. What would help unravel this conflict knot? How can I better see where this person is coming from? What needs to happen here to find resolution?

  • October 15, 2013

    Advice to Congress from a Conflict Novice: It Only Takes One

    Advice to Congress from a Conflict Novice: It Only Takes One

    In almost every workshop I teach, someone asks the hard question: How would you advise our legislators right now? Or, Why can’t the U.S. Congress figure out how to partner on these issues instead of being so divisive?

    Here’s today’s advice…

  • April 1, 2010

    Ki Moments April 2010

    I increasingly appreciate the power of non-directive questions to open dialogue, diffuse thorny issues, and teach us about each other.