"I want two hundred million dollars. Can you build that?"

No one has ever died, to my knowledge, from asking a question business executive. Sure, you may not have received the answer that you expected. Sure, you may have lost credibility or looked ill-prepared (never stupid), but no one personally died by asking a question.

So why are technical people so afraid of asking business executives questions? In most cases, it is the fear of not getting the answer one was expecting or wanted to hear. You receive a sarcastic response like the two questions at the beginning of this article. You discovered later, that the information was incorrect, invalid or incomplete and you have progressed so far down the road that making the adjustment is costly in both time and money.

Want better answers? Well, why not ask better questions? Saying that the business community never knows what it wants is a cop out. The onus is on YOU to ask thought-provoking questions that help the business person think and provide thought-out answers.

It doesn't matter what role you are performing. Everyone in Information Technology needs to learn how to ask good questions. Yes that includes:

• Call Centers
• Help Desk
• Business, Data and Quality Analysts
• Project and Program Managers
• Network Engineers
• Technical, Solution, Enterprise, Business Architects
• Developers
• etc...

By the way, the business person will not remember the questions you ask, but they will remember that you asked good questions...for decades. You build credibility by asking good questions. You build trust by asking good questions. You identify the level of risk (and risk tolerance levels) by asking good questions. You find out answers that you need by asking good questions…FOR DECADES!

So what are good thought-provoking questions?

The most common factor to good questions is to require more than a four word answer. The question requires more than a Yes/No/Maybe answer. The question requires more than a simple noun (product service or definition) answer. Ask open-ended questions.

The opposite is also a danger. If the question you ask is vague with no boundaries, you will not get specific answers needed. Many executives are detailed thinkers. Asking broad concept questions will be very difficult for him or her to answer. The opposite is also true. If the executive is conceptual in nature, it is better to ask with whom you should talk for a better understanding of the finite details.

Thought-provoking questions are not ones that could have been answered by a google search the night before (if you did your homework). The question must illustrate that you did the basic research to know company policy, department strategy, personal goals for the person identified to answer the question. It is very easy to clarify that you understand these as long as you phrase it as "it was my understanding that..." or "am I interpreting this and how it affects..."

Careful, you do not want to waste any executive's time asking clarifying questions just to show off your knowledge. Ask questions that demonstrate a curiosity to learn and understand versus to show off what you know. Rhetorical questions leave a bad taste in the mouth of every executive. It leaves a feeling of being manipulated or insignificant because you are wasting his or her time. No business executive has time for you to show off what you know. It is expected that you know or will do a little homework to find the answer yourself.

Instead, business executives want questions that challenge his or her thought process. He or she wants questions that make him or her think differently. Questions that help think through a messy process or the consequences to a shift in direction. He or she wants questions that may prevent wasted dollars and time.

If you want to get the executive's attention immediately, start the conversation with a question. When you have a conversation starting with a question, have a purpose. Know what answers you need (again, not answers you want to hear).

Phrasing a question is important.

• An analogy is remembered long after the question is asked and answered. This means additional thought will be given to the question, the answer, and the questioner. Mentioning a correlation helps spark visual or audio reminders that help the responder catch your drift quickly.
• A story describing a scenario is remembered. If you want the question and answer to stick...add emotional appeal to the description. If you had done your homework on the person, you will already know that certain stories may be offensive. (I was once asked a question where the questioner was relating a story of a lazy wife. Needless to say...the question, and my opinion of the questioner, did not go over well. I remember him and the question in a negative way...over a decade later.)

Often opportunity involves a great deal of work and a willingness to take a chance on something, the outcome of which may be uncertain. Learning how to prepare to ask thought-provoking questions is a skill that will provide you better answers and directions. Learning how to prepare to ask though-provoking questions will get you noticed by the right people.

Add clarity and purpose and value to the executive with every question.

SBDi speaks both Business and IT languages. Bring SBDi in to help communication between both organizations. Let us help you find the right flexible solution that will help business increase revenue.

Pat Ferdinandi, Chief Thought Translator