Episode Notes [03:47] Seth's Early Understanding of Questions [04:33] The Power of Questions [05:25] Building Relationships Through Questions [06:41] This is Strategy: Focus on Questions [10:21] Gamifying Questions [11:34] Conversations as Infinite Games [15:32] Creating Tension with Questions [20:46] Effective Questioning Techniques [23:21] Empathy and Engagement [34:33] Strategy and Culture [35:22] Microsoft's Transformation [36:00] Global Perspectives on Questions [39:39] Caring in a Challenging World Resources Mentioned The Dip by Seth Godin Linchpin by Seth Godin Purple Cow by Seth Godin Tribes by Seth Godin This Is Marketing by Seth Godin The Carbon Almanac This is Strategy by Seth Godin Seth's Blog What Does it Sound Like When You Change Your Mind? by Seth Godin Value Creation Masterclass by Seth Godin on Udemy The Strategy Deck by Seth Godin Taylor Swift Jimmy Smith Jimmy Smith Curated Questions Episode Supercuts Priya Parker Techstars Satya Nadella Microsoft Steve Ballmer Acumen Jerry Colonna Unleashing the Idea Virus by Seth Godin Tim Ferriss podcast with Seth Godin Seth Godin website Beauty Pill Producer Ben Ford Questions Asked When did you first understand the power of questions? What do you do to get under the layer to really get down to those lower levels? Is it just follow-up questions, mindset, worldview, and how that works for you? How'd you get this job anyway? What are things like around here? What did your boss do before they were your boss? Wow did you end up with this job? Why are questions such a big part of This is Strategy? If you had to charge ten times as much as you charge now, what would you do differently? If it had to be free, what would you do differently? Who's it for, and what's it for? What is the change we seek to make? How did you choose the questions for The Strategy Deck? How big is our circle of us? How many people do I care about? Is the change we're making contagious? Are there other ways to gamify the use of questions? Any other thoughts on how questions might be gamified? How do we play games with other people where we're aware of what it would be for them to win and for us to win? What is it that you're challenged by? What is it that you want to share? What is it that you're afraid of? If there isn't a change, then why are we wasting our time? Can you define tension? What kind of haircut do you want? How long has it been since your last haircut? How might one think about intentionally creating that question? What factors should someone think about as they use questions to create tension? How was school today? What is the kind of interaction I'm hoping for over time? How do I ask a different sort of question that over time will be answered with how was school today? Were there any easy questions on your math homework? Did anything good happen at school today? What tension am I here to create? What wrong questions continue to be asked? What temperature is it outside? When the person you could have been meets the person you are becoming, is it going to be a cause for celebration or heartbreak? What are the questions we're going to ask each other? What was life like at the dinner table when you were growing up? What are we really trying to accomplish? How do you have this cogent two sentence explanation of what you do? How many clicks can we get per visit? What would happen if there was a webpage that was designed to get you to leave? What were the questions that were being asked by people in authority at Yahoo in 1999? How did the stock do today? Is anything broken? What can you do today that will make the stock go up tomorrow? What are risks worth taking? What are we doing that might not work but that supports our mission? What was the last thing you did that didn't work, and what did we learn from it? What have we done to so delight our core customers that they're telling other people? How has your international circle informed your life of questions? What do I believe that other people don't believe? What do I see that other people don't see? What do I take for granted that other people don't take for granted? What would blank do? What would Bob do? What would Jill do? What would Susan do? What happened to them? What system are they in that made them decide that that was the right thing to do? And then how do we change the system? How given the state of the world, do you manage to continue to care as much as you do? Do you walk to school or take your lunch? If you all can only care if things are going well, then what does that mean about caring? Should I have spent the last 50 years curled up in a ball? How do we go to the foundation and create community action?…
Offering a rich variety of Afro-centric content across various areas of professional and life skills to support professionals, leaders and business owners across various industries on the African Continent and beyond.
Offering a rich variety of Afro-centric content across various areas of professional and life skills to support professionals, leaders and business owners across various industries on the African Continent and beyond.
One of the most popular quotes that you will hear on the subject of organizational culture is credited to Peter Drucker, the doyen of management who rightly said and I quote “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. To improve your approaches to gaining the commitment and buy-in of your team into the culture that you want, enroll for our micro-learning course at Effective Leadership…
One of the skills that sets people apart in their organizations is their ability to speak confidently in public. To learn more about improving your presentation and public speaking skills, enroll in our micro-learning course at Present Like a Star .
A new field has emerged in management known as positive organizational studies which focuses on fostering organizations where people flourish, thrive, and support the common good. It is gaining interest not only among scholars but also among organizational leaders who want better and more sustainable organizations. We can only achieve this if we go back to the roots – our beliefs and actions regarding the pursuit of success. To learn more about success, and what it takes to achieve sustainable success and be more positive and productive, enroll in our micro-learning course at Personal Effectiveness .…
As a service organization, you should try everything you can to prevent customers from becoming angry and lashing out at your employees and other customers. You can achieve this by applying the 6 steps of the fantastic service equation and incorporating them into your everyday service protocols. To learn more about improving the quality-of-service delivery, enroll for our micro-learning course at Customer Service .…
Our goal for today is to get you to improve your ability to solve problems, overcome challenges and take advantage of opportunities more creatively, using the powerful tool of brainstorming. To achieve this, I will introduce a theoretical framework that explains effective brainstorming, share 8 rules for effective brainstorming and introduce three of the most common approaches to brainstorming. To learn more about conducting appraisals effectively, enroll for our micro-learning course at Creativity and Innovation…
When performance appraisals are conducted improperly, employees are afraid, cynical, and disinterested in the appraisal process, and tend to underperform. However, when performance appraisals are done properly, employees are inspired, motivated, and engaged to not only participate in the appraisals but to improve their performance and results. To learn more about conducting appraisals effectively, enroll for our micro-learning course at Conducting Effective Appraisals…
The concept of “management by meetings” is very well enshrined in organizational life today and will continue to play a prominent role in organizational culture going forward, especially as more organizations transition to remote and hybrid workplaces. The truth is that most executives and managers now spend up to 70% of their day in meetings, and these meetings must be managed effectively so that the time spent in them is worth it. To learn more about improving your meetings, enroll for our micro-learning course at MANAGING MEETINGS…
Research in the field of management and our experience over the years shows a clear relationship between the quality of goal setting and implementation and the success of any individual, team or organization. To learn more about goal setting, enroll for our micro-learning course at Effective Goal Setting…
A selection interview is a communication task that requires you to plan, prepare and practice. You cannot go into an interview hoping to just “wing it”. You must do better, and taking time to apply the 3Ps of planning, practice and preparation enhances your chances of success.
If scientific evidence shows that the level of success that organizations achieve depends on the quality of leadership in the organization, then organizations that are intent on achieving sustainable success must pay attention to measuring and evaluating the quality of leadership on an on-going basis.…
Every organization desires the same thing: that it can galvanize all its resources together – physical, human, financial, technological and others to achieve its overall organizational goals and create value for its stakeholders on a sustainable basis.
In this increasingly Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous world, one skill that is top of mind for organizations and leaders are the skills for CREATIVITY and INOVATION - people working collaboratively to clarify challenges/problems/opportunities, identify options, develop solutions, and implement these solutions to create value for themselves and society.…
Selling skills consist of the things you need to do to show people the unique value that your products and services offer and influence them to purchase them. Selling skills are important for survival in all human endeavours, but many people are afraid of selling, and will try everything to avoid a job that requires them to sell.…
In our increasingly Volatile Uncertain Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world and workplace, line manager capability stands out as a critical success factor for any organization seeking to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Our managers need to be AGILE to add value to our organizations.
One challenge that some people have in the workplace is getting along others. Unfortunately, while we may want to dismiss the importance of good relationships, studies have demonstrated that good relationships with coworkers, supervisors and subordinates is a predictor of personal and organizational success.…