Many of us, by default, ask closed questions. There are a lot of reasons for this: standard education, where there’s often only one “correct” answer; self-absorption (hey, we all have a lot on our plates); fear of not having the answer… the list goes on. But whatever the case, making this shift can be game-changing. (Try converting Are there any questions? to What questions do you have? and watch your meetings transform.)

Even though I coach this stuff, it can still be hard for me to do sometimes. My instinct is to make people feel comfortable, and open questions can challenge people in ways that make them uncomfortable. But over time and with continuous effort, it gets easier.

How do I know? Here’s a sampling of short open questions I asked my nearly-four-year-old son, Auren, over the last week:

Why are you doing this?

When will you stop?

What’s your problem?

What did mommy say?

Where did you get that?

What were you thinking?

What did you say?

Say that again.

What would it take to get you to sleep?

And boy did they elicit interesting responses!

What open questions have you found to be useful in working with your teams?