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Mindset
Skill 2 of 5

Ask Open-Ended Questions

The wording of a question decides the shape of the answer. Open, neutral, single-subject questions hand the floor to the other person; closed, leading, or bundled ones hand back a version of what you already believed. Starting with what or how invites a fuller reply than a yes or no. Stripping out loaded language keeps you from harvesting your own assumption, and asking one thing at a time gives you an answer you can actually read.

Proficiency Level

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Measurable Behaviors

Behaviors are optimized to be directly observable for evidence-based skill tracking.

Ask one question at a time, then stop

Asks a single question and then goes quiet, so the answer covers what was actually asked rather than the easiest part.

Improve the question wording in others' drafts

Rewrites weak questions in a colleague's survey or interview guide to be open, neutral, and single-subject, so the team ships questions that pull useful answers.

Open exploratory questions with what or how

Starts exploratory questions with what or how instead of did, was, or is, inviting a fuller answer than a yes or no.

Remove leading and loaded wording from questions

Strips out language that nudges toward an answer or smuggles in an assumption, harvesting the person's actual view instead of the asker's.

Split a two-part question into separate asks

Breaks a question that bundles two things into two separate asks, so the answer clearly addresses one topic at a time.

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What Well-Worded Questions Look Like

Your questions open with what or how, carry no hidden assumption, and arrive one at a time, each followed by silence. You catch a closed or leading phrasing and reword it on the spot. You can also improve a colleague's survey or interview guide, turning weak questions into ones that pull useful answers.

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