g-f(2)2206 Mastering the Art of Strategic Questioning in Business

 

genioux Fact post by Fernando Machuca and Copilot

Introduction:

Harvard Business Review article "The Art of Asking Smarter Questions" provides a comprehensive guide on the importance of asking the right questions in the business world. It emphasizes the need for strategic questioning to uncover hidden insights and make informed decisions.

genioux GK Nugget:

"Asking smarter questions is a key skill for strategic decision-making in the business world." — Fernando Machuca and Copilot, April 9, 2024

genioux Foundational Fact:

The authors of the article identify five types of questions that are crucial in the business world: Investigative, Speculative, Productive, Interpretive, and Subjective. By focusing on these types of questions during strategic decision-making, leaders and teams can explore all necessary areas, surface information, and discover options they might otherwise miss.

The 10 most relevant genioux Facts:

1. Business professionals are not formally trained on what kinds of questions to ask when approaching a problem.
2. Five types of questions have gained resonance across the business world: Investigative, Speculative, Productive, Interpretive, and Subjective.
3. Investigative questions help to gather facts and understand the context.
4. Speculative questions help to explore possibilities and generate ideas.
5. Productive questions help to create value and drive action.
6. Interpretive questions help to make sense of data and draw conclusions.
7. Subjective questions help to understand perspectives and build empathy.
8. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, has evolved his leadership style to ask more questions and give fewer answers.
9. Through probing, leaders can help their teams explore ideas that they didn't realize needed to be explored.
10. The art of asking smarter questions is a key skill for strategic decision-making in the business world.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the art of asking smarter questions is not just about seeking answers, but about exploring possibilities, understanding perspectives, and driving strategic decision-making. This skill is crucial for leaders and teams in the business world to navigate the complexities of their industries and make informed decisions.

REFERENCE

The g-f GK Article

Arnaud Chevallier, Frédéric Dalsace, and Jean-Louis Barsoux, The Art of Asking Smarter Questions, Harvard Business Review, From the Magazine (May–June 2024).

Classical Summary:

The Harvard Business Review article "The Art of Asking Smarter Questions" emphasizes the importance of asking smart questions in today's unpredictable and urgent business environment¹. The authors, Arnaud Chevallier, Frédéric Dalsace, and Jean-Louis Barsoux, argue that unlike professionals in law, medicine, and psychology, business professionals are not formally trained on what types of questions to ask when tackling a problem¹.

Through their research and consulting, they've observed that certain types of questions have become increasingly relevant in the business world¹. Over a three-year project, they asked executives to brainstorm about the decisions they've faced and the types of inquiries they've pursued¹.

The authors present a practical framework for five types of questions to ask during strategic decision-making¹:

1. Investigative

2. Speculative

3. Productive

4. Interpretive

5. Subjective

By focusing on these types of questions, leaders and teams can more effectively explore all necessary areas, surfacing information and options that might otherwise be overlooked¹. The authors illustrate this with the example of Jensen Huang, the CEO of the U.S. chipmaker Nvidia, who has evolved his leadership style to ask more questions and give fewer answers¹. This approach helps his management team explore ideas they didn't realize needed to be explored¹.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 4/11/2024

(1) The Art of Asking Smarter Questions - Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2024/05/the-art-of-asking-smarter-questions.

(2) Emotional intelligence - HBR - Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/topic/subject/emotional-intelligence.

(3) The Art of Asking Smarter Questions - Harvard Business Review. https://bing.com/search?q=HBR+article+%22The+Art+of+Asking+Smarter+Questions%22+summary.

Arnaud Chevallier

Arnaud Chevallier is a Professor of Strategy at IMD Business School¹. He has a BS from Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, and an MSc and PhD from Rice University, Texas, USA¹.

Chevallier's work focuses on helping executives solve complex problems and make better decisions under uncertainty¹. His research, teaching, and consulting draw on empirical findings from diverse disciplines to provide concrete tools that prepare executives to manage the strategic challenges they face in today's dynamic global marketplace¹.

He believes that effective problem solvers are T-shaped; they are both generalists and specialists, combining depth and breadth of knowledge¹. His tools help executives improve on the breadth dimension¹.

Chevallier has authored books including the 2016 title "Strategic Thinking in Complex Problem Solving", and "Solvable: A Simple Solution to Complex Problems", co-authored with Albrecht Enders¹. These books synthesize the strategic thinking needed for complex problem solving into a simple three-step process: frame, explore, decide¹.

He has helped numerous organizations to identify breakthrough solutions to complex problems including Shell, SAP, Lenovo, Cisco, Novo Nordisk, Statkraft, and the United Nations¹. He recently helped the International Committee of the Red Cross identify innovative funding sources and assisted Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance in its drive to have greater impact¹.

At IMD, he is Director of the Global Management Foundations (GMF) program and the Master of Science in Sustainable Management and Technology (SMT) program offered jointly by IMD, the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and the University of Lausanne¹. He is also Co-Director of IMD’s Complex Problem Solving (CPS) program¹.

Before joining IMD in 2018, Chevallier served as Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where he taught strategic thinking in the School of Engineering¹. He was previously Graduate Dean of the University of Monterrey in Mexico, teaching engineering and business¹.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 4/11/2024

(1) Arnaud Chevallier - IMD Business School. https://www.imd.org/faculty/professors/arnaud-chevallier/.

(2) Arnaud Chevallier - IMD Business School. https://www.imd.org/management/gmf/global-management-foundations/faculty/.

(3) Arnaud Chevallier - Professor, Dynamic Keynote Speaker. https://www.speakersassociates.com/speaker/arnaud-chevallier/.

(4) Arnaud Chevallier - I by IMD - IMD Business School. https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/iauthors/arnaud-chevallier/.

Frédéric Dalsace

Frédéric Dalsace is a Professor of Marketing and Strategy at IMD Business School⁸. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MSc in Business Administration from HEC Paris, and an MSc and PhD in Management from INSEAD⁸.

Dalsace's work focuses on two distinct areas: B2B issues such as customer centricity, buyer-seller relationships, and value management, and sustainability, inclusive business models, and alleviating poverty⁸. He believes that companies need to rethink their approach to customer centricity, incorporating it into the value delivery and value capture dimensions of their business models⁸.

He has worked with a range of firms including Atlas Copco, UCB, Valmet, VAT Group, Grundfos, MANE, Porsche, and STADA, and his work has been published in academic journals such as Harvard Business Review, Business Horizons, Strategic Management Journal, and Revue Française de Gestion⁸.

Before joining IMD in 2019, Dalsace was a Professor at HEC Paris for 16 years, holding the Social Business/Enterprise and Poverty Chair⁸. Prior to his academic career, he held a series of senior positions in the business world, including marketing roles at Michelin and CarnaudMetalbox and as a strategy consultant with McKinsey⁸.

At IMD, he is Co-Director of IMD’s Leading Customer-Centric Strategies (LCCS) program⁸. He is also collaborating with IMD’s Professor of Strategy Arnaud Chevallier on a project to identify and evaluate the types of questions that leaders should be asking of those around them⁸.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 4/11/2024

(1) Frédéric Dalsace - IMD Business School. https://www.imd.org/faculty/professors/frederic-dalsace/.

(2) undefined. https://hbr.org/2024/05/the-art-of-asking-smarter-questions.

(3) undefined. https://hbr.org/topic/subject/emotional-intelligence.

(4) undefined. https://bing.com/search?q=HBR+article+%22The+Art+of+Asking+Smarter+Questions%22+summary.

(5) undefined. https://www.imd.org/faculty/professors/arnaud-chevallier/.

(6) undefined. https://www.imd.org/management/gmf/global-management-foundations/faculty/.

(7) undefined. https://www.speakersassociates.com/speaker/arnaud-chevallier/.

(8) undefined. https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/iauthors/arnaud-chevallier/.

(9) Frédéric Dalsace - I by IMD - IMD Business School. https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/iauthors/frederic-dalsace/.

(10) Business for Society and the Environment - IEDP. https://www.iedp.com/articles/business-for-society-and-the-environment/.

(11) Business for society and the environment - IMD News - IMD Business School. https://www.imd.org/news/sustainability/updates-business-for-society-and-the-environment/.

Jean-Louis Barsoux

Jean-Louis Barsoux is a Term Research Professor at IMD Business School¹. He was educated in France and the UK and holds a PhD in comparative management from Loughborough University, UK¹. His doctorate provided the foundation for the book "French Management: Elitism in Action" and the Harvard Business Review article "The Making of a French Manager"¹.

Barsoux has a broad range of interests in the field of organizational behavior and is the author or co-author of several books¹. Some of his notable works include "The Global Challenge", "Managing Across Cultures", and "The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome", which received a Book of the Year Award from both the Society for Human Resource Management and HR.com¹. His reflection on the uses of humor in organizations, "Funny Business", won a Management Consultancies Association Book of the Year prize¹.

He also studies corporate transformations, the management of change, and the process of innovation¹. He is the co-author of "Quest: Leading Transformation Journeys", a book summarizing the IMD faculty’s research on corporate transformations¹. The book was awarded the Axiom Gold Medal in International Business in 2015¹.

More recently, he co-authored "ALIEN Thinking: The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas" with Cyril Bouquet and Michael Wade¹. The book was highly commended at The Business Book Awards in the “Smart Thinking” category in 2022¹. "ALIEN Thinking" introduces a smart new model for innovative thinking and problem-solving⁵. It presents a framework based on five strategies: Attention, Levitation, Imagination, Experimentation, and Navigation⁶⁷⁸. These strategies lead to a fresh and flexible approach to problem-solving⁶⁷⁸.

Over the years, Barsoux’s work on leadership, teams, and innovation has been published in both Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review¹.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 4/11/2024

(1) Jean-Louis Barsoux - IMD Business School. https://www.imd.org/faculty/professors/jean-louis-barsoux/.

(2) ALIEN Thinking - IMD Books. https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/digital/books/alien-thinking/.

(3) ALIEN Thinking: The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas - Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54503525-alien-thinking.

(4) ALIEN Thinking by Cyril Bouquet | Hachette Book Group. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/cyril-bouquet/alien-thinking/9781541750920/?lens=publicaffairs.

(5) ALIEN Thinking: The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas. https://www.amazon.in/ALIEN-Thinking-Unconventional-Breakthrough-Ideas/dp/1541750918.

(6) Jean-Louis Barsoux - I by IMD - IMD Business School. https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/iauthors/jean-louis-barsoux/.

(7) Quest : Leading Global Transformations - Google Books. https://books.google.com/books/about/Quest.html?id=1kXXAgAAQBAJ.

(8) ALIEN Thinking: The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas. https://alienthinking.org/.

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This genioux Fact post is classified as Bombshell Knowledge which means: The game-changer that reshapes your perspective, leaving you exclaiming, "Wow, I had no idea!"

Type: Bombshell Knowledge, Free Speech

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