{"id":3525,"date":"2011-05-31T05:59:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-31T10:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=3525"},"modified":"2011-05-31T05:59:01","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T10:59:01","slug":"book-review-the-question-behind-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=3525","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Question Behind the Question"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-3526\" href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?attachment_id=3526\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3526\" title=\"qbqbook\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/qbqbook-181x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"181\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/qbqbook-181x300.jpg 181w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/qbqbook.jpg 290w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 181px) 100vw, 181px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This past week, a good friend recommended <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/QBQ-Question-Behind-Accountability-ebook\/dp\/B000OIZUQW\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&amp;s=digital-text&amp;qid=1306838766&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\">QBQ! The Question Behind the Question<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.qbq.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">John G. Miller<\/a> as a great resource for teams that want to grow. \u00a0 I downloaded this to the Kindle app on my iPad and read the whole thing in about two hours. \u00a0If you asked me to summarize this book in two works, it would be&#8230;personal accountability. \u00a0The whole premise of the book is to stop the blame game and start recognizing those areas where you have an opportunity to positively impact the outcome of a situation. \u00a0Rather than directing statements at &#8220;you&#8221;, it becomes more of an assessment of what can &#8220;I&#8221; do to help, serve, fix, improve, etc. \u00a0This was a good book, not a lot of earthshattering ideas, but definitely a great reminder of personal responsibility and the need to make sure that your team is clear on what that looks like for your organization.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some things I highlighted while reading&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> What has happened to personal responsibility? Why does it seem the only thing people know how to do anymore is point the finger elsewhere, blaming something or someone else for their problems, their actions, their feelings?<\/li>\n<li>Turning our thinking around and asking more personally accountable questions is one of the most powerful and effective things we can do to improve our organizations and our lives.<\/li>\n<li>This, in a nutshell, is the essence of the QBQ:\u00a0Making better choices in the moment by asking better questions.<\/li>\n<li>Make better choices.<\/li>\n<li>The Question Behind the Question is built on the observation that our first reactions are often negative, bringing to mind Incorrect Questions (IQs).<\/li>\n<li>But if in each moment of decision we can instead discipline our thoughts to look behind those initial questions and ask better ones (QBQs), the questions themselves will lead us to better results.<\/li>\n<li>Begin with \u201cWhat\u201d or \u201cHow\u201d (not \u201cWhy,\u201d \u201cWhen,\u201d or \u201cWho\u201d). Contain an \u201cI\u201d (not \u201cthey,\u201d \u201cthem,\u201d \u201cwe,\u201d or \u201cyou\u201d). Focus on action.<\/li>\n<li>The best thing we can do to get rid of victim thinking in our world is to get rid of it in ourselves.<\/li>\n<li>Different people have different reactions to the same situation. Stress is a choice.<\/li>\n<li>Stress is also the result of our choices.<\/li>\n<li>Are you facing change? Any engines quit in your life lately? If so, ask a better question. Here\u2019s one that really works: \u201cHow can I adapt to the changing world?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWhat\u2019s the critical issue facing your organization today?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Remember: The answers are in the questions.<\/li>\n<li>Let\u2019s take care of the little things while they\u2019re still little.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWhen are we going to hear something new?\u201d is the wrong question. The right one is \u201cHow can I apply what I\u2019m hearing?\u201d\u2014even if I\u2019ve heard it before.<\/li>\n<li>Blame and \u201cwhodunit\u201d questions solve nothing. They create fear, destroy creativity, and build walls. Instead of brainstorming and working together to get things done, we blame- storm and accomplish nothing. There\u2019s not a chance we\u2019ll reach our full potential until we stop blaming each other and start practicing personal accountability.<\/li>\n<li>Whom do accountable people blame? No one. Not even themselves.<\/li>\n<li>With competitors working to beat us every day, can we really afford to be working against each other, too? Let\u2019s climb out of our silos, forget the \u201cwe\/they,\u201d and remember: We\u2019re all on the same team.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s not about \u201cus\u201d versus \u201cthem\u201d or \u201cWhy did they overbook the plane?\u201d or \u201cWho dropped the ball?\u201d The better question is \u201cWhat can I do right now to make a difference?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Ownership: \u201cA commitment of the head, heart, and hands to fix the problem and never again affix the blame.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Personal accountability does NOT begin with you. It begins with me.<\/li>\n<li>How much better things would be if we all tried to mold and shape our own thoughts and actions rather than those of others. The bottom line is that the QBQ works because it\u2019s based on the truth \u201cI can only change me.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The definition of integrity is this: \u201cBeing what I say I am by acting in accordance with my words.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Believe or leave.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cGod grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know.\u00a0.\u00a0. it\u2019s me!\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Modeling is the most powerful of all teachers.<\/li>\n<li>Who\u2019s watching you?<\/li>\n<li>The practice of personal accountability: We discipline our thoughts. We ask better questions. We take action.<\/li>\n<li>Leadership, more than anything else, is about the way we think. It\u2019s a moment-to-moment disciplining of our thoughts. It\u2019s about practicing personal accountability and choosing to make a positive contribution, no matter what our role or \u201clevel.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Humility is the cornerstone of leadership.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cLeaders are not problem solvers but problem givers.\u201d They let others tackle the problem, design their own solutions, and take action. How else can people learn? How else can leaders serve?<\/li>\n<li>Learning is really about translating knowing what to do into doing what we know. It\u2019s about changing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This past week, a good friend recommended QBQ! The Question Behind the Question by John G. Miller as a great resource for teams that want to grow. \u00a0 I downloaded this to the Kindle app on my iPad and read the whole thing in about two hours. \u00a0If you asked me to summarize this book [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,23,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-generosity","category-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}