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How to ask the right questions · Inside Strategic Relations

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Here's a disturbing admission. I'm justin hit. I'm from Inside
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Strategic Relations. This is the podcast, the disturbing admission. At
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: the end of every video, I say, if you have
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: any questions, feel free to ask, So you can go
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: to the website, go to the contact page to ask
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: your question. And I got six seven hundred YouTube videos,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: six seven hundred podcast episodes, tens of thousands of listeners
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: a month now.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: A large number of these listeners are.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Brand new, so I don't know that they're engaged in
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: coming back, and then again I don't always do my
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: part to get them to come back. But the bottom
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: line is, out of all that content and all those visitors.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Very few people ask any questions.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: They do not unlock the power of the question by
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: thinking in their mind of something they want to have answered.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: And what I'm.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Seeing with the analytics and what I'm seeing with the
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: engagements that I do have, is that a lot of
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the YouTube, social media, online access is just brain fog
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: wandering around.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: I do observe that in my own behavior at times
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  Speaker 1: as well, when I sit down and deliberately look up
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: something and I build out notes. Now we've talked about
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: that recently in some of the demonstration videos and workshops.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: If I open with a thesis or a question I
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: want to answer.
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  Speaker 1: And then I watch a few videos and answer the question,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: build out an outline, develop a plan, and then go do.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Something, then things happen.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: However, there are times I'm watching archer on, you know,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: I'm watching a cartoon, and I'm like watching some YouTube videos,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: and then four hours have gone by, I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: What the hell happened.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: And So, if you want to be more productive, if
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: you want to get better results, it starts by asking
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: questions of yourself and the people around you.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: So I post all these videos, I do all this,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: this content.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: This content I'm producing for free for clients, primarily so
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: a client's well, I guess it's not for free because
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: a client's already paying me, and I'm this is a
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: supplemental material.
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  Speaker 2: So they asked the question.
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  Speaker 1: They said, Hey, how do I get more accurate decision making?
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: What do I mean by accurate decision making is that
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  Speaker 1: I want to make decisions that increase the resources I
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: have rather than decrease the resources I have. I can
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: then respond with, here are the five things to do.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Here are the three areas to look at, and then
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: what will happen is they'll contact me and then we'll say, okay,
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  Speaker 1: we'll work on a specific project. I haven't found it
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  Speaker 1: to be a disadvantage to me other than the time
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and resources it takes to publish. I haven't found it
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  Speaker 1: to be a disadvantage to me to create podcasts and
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: to create newsletters and articles. Now I don't do it consistently,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: and it is a disadvantage I could. I could be
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: better off if I did it consistently. But the content
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: I've produced has either helped me better understand an idea
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: or concept, or better deliver information about that idea concept,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: or have generated consulting clients. So again, the damning admission
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: the challenge I'm facing is that, well it's not a
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: challenge I'm facing, but that so few people raise their
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  Speaker 1: hand and say, you know, I have a specific question.
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  Speaker 1: Now a lot of times I find out later that
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  Speaker 1: the video answered the question well enough that they felt
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  Speaker 1: they could go do something, which.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Is actually a problem.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: It's a problem because the problem is is that the
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  Speaker 1: ideas are often more complex than what I can share
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: in a video, but I simplify them to share them
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: in a video so that I could keep it under
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: ten or fifteen minutes. So again, how do we use
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: this information? So, as a subject matter expert, entrepreneur, as
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: an executive, understand that most of the people you engage
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  Speaker 1: with every day, we will not ask questions for clarification.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: They will not ask questions so that they can better implement.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: They will not ask questions so that they can move
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  Speaker 1: forward on a topic. Now, there's a number of reasons
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  Speaker 1: they may feel if they ask a question, it might
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  Speaker 1: reveal their weakness, and therefore, if they are weak, they
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  Speaker 1: may not continue to stay in that role. By asking
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  Speaker 1: questions might reveal their stupidity because it made telegraph that
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  Speaker 1: they didn't know the answer and it.
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  Speaker 2: Was obvious to everybody else.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of times, anything you have a question about
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  Speaker 1: typically a lot of other people have the same question.
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  Speaker 1: And again, the clarity of my communications is not necessarily
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  Speaker 1: adequate for everybody who listens, So I would expect some
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  Speaker 1: questions from time to time.
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  Speaker 2: There's also times where.
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  Speaker 1: I implant questions in the mind of the viewer or
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  Speaker 1: the listener in order to get an engagement so that
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  Speaker 1: I can then either have that video rank better on
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  Speaker 1: the platform or reach more people like the ones that engage,
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  Speaker 1: or otherwise get somebody to join a newsletter list or
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: something like that. So I might say, you know, hey,
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  Speaker 1: we have free resources and tools relating to this topic,
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  Speaker 1: including five questions I didn't answer here. Click the link
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  Speaker 1: in the description to go get that newsletter or get
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: that article. And then those five things weren't well established
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: up front because they're the next five episodes of the
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: podcast or the next five.
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  Speaker 2: You know, issues of the newsletter. But again I.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Will keep the door open because when I do get questions,
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  Speaker 1: it is amazing the quality of the individual who asks
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  Speaker 1: that question. Now again I can tell how my judging
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  Speaker 1: quality well. First off, the question is it well thought out?
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  Speaker 2: Is the question?
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  Speaker 1: And yes, I'm judging the questions, but I'm also answered
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  Speaker 1: all the questions that come in a lot of times
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  Speaker 1: I'll get asked the same thing twice and I'll send
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  Speaker 1: an old video or something.
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  Speaker 2: But here's the deal. The quality of the.
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  Speaker 1: Question, in my perspective, is measured by how well it's
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  Speaker 1: thought out, how well does it lead to some kind
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  Speaker 1: of benefit. So I said, I published these podcasts, these newsletters,
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  Speaker 1: the other things, and the only drawback is the amount
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  Speaker 1: of time it takes me to be engaged with them.
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  Speaker 1: And now why would that be a drawback, Well, because
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  Speaker 1: it takes away from billable hours.
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  Speaker 2: Well, what if there were no billable hours? Would I
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  Speaker 2: still do the work?
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  Speaker 1: Well, if the activity leads to billable hours, then yes,
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  Speaker 1: I would do the work. In some cases, even if
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't lead to billible hours, I would do the
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  Speaker 1: work because I'm working through an ideal concept, or organizing
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  Speaker 1: an idea, or organizing materials. So do you see how
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  Speaker 1: we're using the questions to clarify in our mind?
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  Speaker 2: Maybe the next step.
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  Speaker 1: So I put together this podcast episode with a damning
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: admission that even though I have a door open for
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: people to ask questions, very few people compared to the
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: relative number of people every year they watch the videos,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: very few people ask any questions. However, when they do,
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  Speaker 1: they tend to be really good questions, including things that
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: I didn't even think were questions in the marketplace. You
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: may not be aware, but I'm constantly doing research on
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the target audience, which is subject matter experts, entrepreneurs, and executives,
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  Speaker 1: so that I know the intimate details about the problems you.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: Face and the challenges you face.
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  Speaker 1: So that hopefully my content is more relevant to your needs, concerns, frustrations,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: and desired outcomes. And in doing that, I still when
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  Speaker 1: I get a question, learn from that. So what's the takeaway?
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  Speaker 1: How can you make.
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  Speaker 2: This more valuable for you?
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  Speaker 1: Number one? You need to be asking questions of yourself.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm for example, I got this farm, I have
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  Speaker 1: some goats with the processing, the goats have hides, and
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  Speaker 1: I collected the hides from the.
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  Speaker 2: Avatoir and I'm going to tan those hides.
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  Speaker 1: And I want to make sure I don't make a mistake,
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  Speaker 1: nor do I want to have sufficient extra effort put
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  Speaker 1: into it. So a tanning hide can take days, it
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  Speaker 1: can take weeks, So I don't want to take months
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  Speaker 1: if it should only take weeks. And so I asked
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  Speaker 1: myself the question what is the most effective way to
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  Speaker 1: tan hides? And now what is the criteria? In a
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  Speaker 1: natural way with minimal chemical inputs. And then I take
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  Speaker 1: the results of that answer, and then I ask a
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  Speaker 1: question of what ways can I do this with the
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  Speaker 1: resources I already have? Because I don't know about you guys,
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  Speaker 1: but sometimes when I get into a project, I might
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  Speaker 1: go buy a bunch of stuff and I don't really
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  Speaker 1: want to do that anymore. I'm doing the whole intentional
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: thrift thing that we talked to about other programs, where
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  Speaker 1: I'm trying to get more from what I've got rather
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  Speaker 1: than going out and buying new stuff all the time.
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  Speaker 1: And so in that thinking process that can help you
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  Speaker 1: focus activity. It's to sharpen the saw Stephen Covey talks about,
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  Speaker 1: and it's the understanding the context of the environment and
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  Speaker 1: approaching it with a plan rather than just winging it.
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  Speaker 1: And then number two of this, you're using that concept
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  Speaker 1: with artificial intelligence, for example, it helps you think out
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  Speaker 1: the conversation with the platform, but it works.
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  Speaker 2: Well with humans as well.
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  Speaker 1: So if you need an answer and you've hired a consultant,
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  Speaker 1: how do you get the maximum value out of the consultant, Well,
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  Speaker 1: prepare a list of questions in advance that you'd like
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  Speaker 1: that consultant to answer, and then for each question on
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  Speaker 1: your list, ask this question, where's the profit in it?
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  Speaker 2: How is this answer going to help us? What might
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  Speaker 2: we be looking for?
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  Speaker 1: So you don't predispose yourself to a certain answer, but
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  Speaker 1: what are we looking looking for when the answer comes in?
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  Speaker 1: So a lot of times when people do ask questions
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  Speaker 1: about podcasts, they're looking for additional information, so it's an
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  Speaker 1: informational intent question. However, there are certain language cues where
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  Speaker 1: somebody just just wants me to do the work, so
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: they email me and they ask how can I get started,
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  Speaker 1: or or you know, what do I need to do
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  Speaker 1: to get a paid consultation? If I led with the
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: paid consultation and I said, hey, look, you know consultations
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  Speaker 1: are available.
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  Speaker 2: You know, if you sign up today you can get.
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  Speaker 1: That would be an offer, and that's not relevant in
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: the public space because if you're looking at like buyer intent,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: you typically have this information discovery of the problem and
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: then the information discovery of the solutions, and then they're
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: going to look for specific vendors, so a vendor selection period.
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  Speaker 1: We can bypass all that by having a regular conversation
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  Speaker 1: which is a podcast, which is a newsletter, and then
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  Speaker 1: if the question comes in, it identifies somebody as interested
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: in a topic or more information, which is kind of
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: a qualification qualifying element, and then ultimately I can either
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: provide additional information if relevant to the question within the
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: context of the overall content being developed or services to
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  Speaker 1: provide it, and then Finally, the person on the other
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  Speaker 1: end can move forward. Very often though, because I'm kind
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: of picky, because I'll go do a little homework about
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  Speaker 1: the person and just get them an answer that takes
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: them to the next step. So that's why we ended
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: That's how I ended up with five hundred and six
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: hundred or whatever number of podcasts. But the point being
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: though is I didn't waste their time, and then they
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: didn't waste my time. But overall, they can go watch
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: one video, go do something with it, and then move
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: closer to the outcome or objective they have.
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  Speaker 2: I do think, I know.
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  Speaker 1: I put together a report in the past about the
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  Speaker 1: power of questions. The key thing about questions is that
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: it very often you could write a list of questions
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  Speaker 1: and then go through the criteria about why do you
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  Speaker 1: want to answer, and then after a little bit you'll actually.
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  Speaker 2: Answer the questions yourself with very little research.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of ours searching YouTube videos and going to Google
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: and asking AI questions and still not having anything accomplished.
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  Speaker 1: This particular approach moves you faster towards accomplishment.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: Now in teaching that it means that the.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Listeners regular listeners of the podcast don't need me as
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: much anymore, And that's good. That's fine with me. I
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: can move the bigger projects and such, but they'll tend
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: to be able to move towards a solution faster because
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the questions lead the way, or at least eliminate the distraction.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: And so again, the next time he's sit down on YouTube,
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: next time you sit down social media, before you sit
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: down and say, well, what questions am I trying to answer?
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  Speaker 2: What am I trying to accomplish?
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: What would I like the outcome of today's session to
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: be worth?
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: And then a lot of times you'll just do like
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: I do and sit outside.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: With the goats, or well, you might not have any goats,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: but I'll go sit outside of the goats, or take
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: a hike, or go to the gym, or do something
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: fun and recreational. Because I asked the question what is
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: the purpose of work? Why am I working? What do
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: I want to accomplish? Where do I want to be
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: in so many different years? How do I want my
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: health by well being to look like? And again the
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: questions become the answers with analysis rather than questions. Well,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: questions do lead to new questions, but rather than the
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  Speaker 1: questions not being there at all, and then you're just
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  Speaker 1: kind of like on default mode and chasing what's interesting.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: So the question is direct your focus where if you
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: don't have the questions in place, any answer is good
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: enough because you're knowing you don't really know what you're
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: looking for. And again, there's nothing wrong with watching cartoons.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: I like Archer and Cowboy Bebop, and some of those
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: things are interesting, But there's a time where you set
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: that aside to get some real work done. If you're
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: ready to get some real work done, and you would
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: like someone to take you by the hand and take
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: you down a path.
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  Speaker 2: To accomplish that.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: In areas of business development, in the areas of risk management,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: meaning we're going to grow the business or we're going
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: to grow the bottom line, and then we're going to
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: keep the bottom line in the landscape of ever changing laws,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: rules and regulations, then you're in the right place. I'm
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: justin HIT with inside Strategic Relations. You can reach out
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: at www dot inside Strategic relations dot com. You can
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: search for justin HIT risk Management, justin HIT Business Development
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: if you want more information, but if your intent is
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: to solve problems, Now, the methodology I just described here
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: today works in consulting sessions and where we can walk
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: through the key ideas and concepts necessary to get you unblocked,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: to get you to that next level, to get you
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: solid measurable achievements. And if you're interested in that, visit
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: www dot justin hit dot com and go to the
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: contact page or Inside Strategic Relations dot com and reach
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: out through the contact page. Want to thank you for
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: being a part of today's podcast about asking questions and
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll give this methodology a try because very
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: few people do, and there's a reason why the one
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: percent are the one percent and everybody else is average.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: You can get results, you can achieve more, and you
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: can move forward in life.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: By asking questions. Thanks for listening.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Seeing in the next podcast again I'm just a hit
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: with Inside Strategic Relations