There is an old Chinese proverb where a martial arts student approached his teacher with a question. “I’d like to improve my knowledge of the martial arts. In addition to learning from you, I’d like to study with another teacher in order to learn another style. What do you think of this idea?”
The old master looked intently at the young man, then delivered his pearl of wisdom, “The hunter who chases two rabbits, catches neither one.”
As a young leader, I was sitting at a seminar where an International leader was discussing the ‘Power of Focus’. He asked what was a simple and yet powerful question. He then explained if we could answer the question and stay focused on the answer it would
- Increase the level of achievement in our personal lives
- Makes us better leaders
- Bring alignment to organisations
- Increase your motivational skills as a leader
- Give your life more energy and drive
I have found that his bold claims had merit but not for everyone. Yet after adding a second question, which must be asked in tandem, the success rate of his assertions increased dramatically. I will explain why later.
Key Question
The simple question he asked was “What do you want”. Sounds so simple but when asked authentically it stops people in their tracks.
Whether it is a project, a meeting, or establishing the direction of the company it is far too easy to bypass the one question that will bring focus. Instead we jump to
- What we will do and
- How we will do it
Failure to start with the fundamental question “What do we really want to achieve here?” leaves people, teams and organisations wasting effort and energy.
The question, ‘What do you want’, takes advantage of some key aspects to our human wiring. Neuroscientist, Daniel Bor explains that the human nervous system is ‘future obsessed’. Unconsciously we constantly filter the world for what we want even though we do not always honour it. Author of the best seller “The How of Happiness” and Psychology professor, Sonja Lyubomirsky, states we are happier when we are living with intention. All of which resonates with the 1968 breakthrough research by Dr. Edwin Locke which found that those who had a form of objective or goal performed higher and operated more effectively.
If this is true why does it not work for everyone? The reason this question is not as effective when asked by itself is because the answers are classed as an abstraction. Abstractions are concepts. Ideas that are not tangible and cannot be visualised in concrete terms. They include concepts such as justice, peace, success. All these words are ideas that cannot be pictured in our head. We can picture an event that reflects the concept but not the concept itself.
Abstract concepts are energising. They excite us. So when people respond to the question “What do you want”
You may garner responses like
- I want to be rich
- I want a successful company
- I want ..[you fill in responses you have heard]
All of which will excite and energise them. However at this point it is only a concept and is not enough to really make a difference for most. The reason is that they cannot picture rich, or success. This is where the second question is so crucial.
It is the second question that turns the abstraction into something to truly aim for. A visual target.
Second Key Question
“What will that look like when you get X” or asked a similar way, “How do you know when you have got X”
The brilliance of this question is that it turns an abstraction into a concrete imaginable, tangible reality. The person then has to turn their idea into some form of living concrete representation.
In the previous scenario
Question (one) “What do you want?”
Answer “I want to be rich”
Then follows with
Question (two) “What will that look like when you get Rich”
Answer, “The day I go into the bank and pay my last mortgage payment on my house”
At this point the abstraction has taken on a living and very real event in the person’s life. The essential component of ‘question two’ is that the answer will be unique to each person. Some may answer
- “I am rich when I have bought my fist boat.”
- “I am rich when I have ‘x’ dollars saved in the bank.”
The answer to ‘Question two’ is their perception of what the abstraction looks like when it is achieved.
The concept has been turned into something that they can visualised and imagined.
Leadership Challenge for the week
Start your next leadership conversation with
- Let’s remind ourselves “what do we really want?”
Follow-up with the answer
- “what will it look like when we get it?”
Summary
Two key questions that must be asked in tandem
- What do you want?
- Establishes intention but is an abstraction
- What will it look like when you get ‘X’? (X = the answer to question 1)
- Converts the abstraction into a visual target
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