Four principles for effective questioning
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I have mentioned in many articles: This is an era of extremely smooth information exchange. The Internet and new media have made the connections between all people closer than ever before. Whether it is academic exchange, career development, life planning, or skill learning, you can find relevant professionals online and ask them for advice. Especially since 2016, Zaixing, Fenda , Zhihu , Zhihu Live, and a large number of similar interactive, question-and-answer, and online course platforms have pushed the knowledge economy and sharing economy to the peak. I am very optimistic about this model. By spending a few dollars or tens of dollars, you can get targeted responses from industry experts. In many cases, this can help us avoid many detours and save a lot of time and energy. However, from what I have seen, many people have a lot of misunderstandings about how to ask questions themselves. For example, I often receive questions like this on Zhihu and my official account : ● What can I do after graduating from a certain major? ● Which industry/company has the best prospects? ● Is there any future in working in a certain industry? There is no way for others to answer questions like this. Even if they can reply, it is probably not valuable information. Take these three examples: 1. What can you do after graduating from a certain major? You can do anything. Some jobs require a professional background, but no major can only be used for work in that field. 2. Which industry/company has the best prospects? This is a question that no one can answer. Because if you know the answer clearly, you can achieve financial freedom just by buying stocks. 3. Is there any future in working in a certain industry? This has little to do with the industry, it mainly depends on the people. If you do well, use your brain and work hard, you will have a future in whatever you do... Questions like this are actually not carefully thought out. There are three problems with them: 1. Vague Simply put, it is not specific enough, there are no conditions or scenarios, and people don't know where to start. For example, "Is there a future in working in a certain industry?" What does it mean to have a future? What is the definition, what is the goal, and what is the situation of the person asking the question? In contrast, if you ask: If you learn a certain industry from scratch and work in a first-tier city for three years, is it possible to earn a salary of more than 10,000 yuan? This is a much more reliable question because it involves specific scenarios and conditions. 2. Subjective That is, questions rely on the subjective opinion of the respondent rather than objective facts and information. This is the way journalists conduct interviews, but it should not be the way to seek knowledge and resolve doubts. Because everyone’s definition and understanding are different, and everyone’s idea of “better” and “best” are also different, and the results may not be the same as what you want. What is a better approach? It is to seek objective "information" rather than "opinions" or "arguments". Then, based on this information, analyze it independently and come to your own conclusions. For example, "Is the advertising industry worth working in?" is not a good question because it is too subjective. You should list some relevant information around this question - such as salary, intensity, sense of accomplishment, development space, etc., and then explore these relevant information one by one to come up with your own answer to "is it worth doing?" 3. Huge That is, the scope of the question is too large and too broad, requiring the respondent to make analysis and discussion. This is a question of basic etiquette. Everyone is busy. If you were in my shoes and saw a question that required several hours and thousands of words to explain clearly, would you have the desire to answer it? In most cases, such questions fall on deaf ears. The best way is not to let the other party do essay questions, but to let him do true-or-false questions, multiple-choice questions and fill-in-the-blank questions. In short, it is to reduce the cost of the other party's answer as much as possible, so that it will be easier to get a reply. Why do these problems exist? In most cases, this happens because the person asking the question doesn't know what answer he or she wants. You have to know that all problems will eventually have to be faced and solved by yourself. There is no one who can help you solve the problem. Whether it is consulting or seeking help, it can only help you obtain some necessary information, help you calibrate your direction, improve efficiency, and avoid detours. It cannot replace your own thinking and problem-solving process. Good questions should be focused, focusing on the problem that needs to be solved at the moment. ● It should be clear about the dilemma you are currently facing, or the issues you are paying attention to or thinking about; ● It should be based on your decision-making path and provide a basis for your decision; ● Or it can help you overcome difficulties and turn them directly into action. Such questions are meaningful. So, how do you ask effective questions? 1. Self-awareness I have written articles on career planning and life planning before, and many people asked me in the background: I don’t know what I like, I don’t know what kind of person I want to be, and I don’t know what I can do? what to do? There is no way to answer such a question. The most important thing for a person in the world is awareness of himself. What kind of person am I? What kind of person do I want to be? What do I like, what am I good at, what can I do, and what can't I do? These are questions that only you can know, and you must find the answers to them. But many people ignore this point and instead focus on seeking external support. However, no matter what kind of person, no matter what kind of help, it cannot replace your own "self-awareness" process. Everything only makes sense after self-awareness is established. Because the essence of asking questions is to find a path to an ideal state. How can you ask a question if you don’t even know where the destination you want to go is? 2. Define the problem What is the essence of the problem? It is the gap between the ideal state and the current state. Solving the problem is the process of overcoming this gap step by step. This step is to redefine the problem and ask yourself: What is my goal? What is my current situation? What is the gap between them? So, what is the problem I am trying to solve? 3. Problem refinement A reasonable problem-solving process is to first raise the problem that needs to be solved, then break it down step by step, and by overcoming the small, detailed problems, transform them into decisions + actions, and finally achieve overcoming the entire problem. In this process, each question can be broken down into more specific and smaller questions - especially for subjective and complex questions. The more detailed and specific your questions are, the easier it is to get valuable answers. Questions like "What is the future of Internet operations positions?" can be broken down into: "What is the starting salary for marketing operations positions?", "How is the salary increase for marketing operations positions?", "What is the promotion path for marketing operations positions?", "How many years does it usually take to go from a marketing operations position to a director or senior executive?", and so on. What level of refinement is appropriate? It is more appropriate to break down the granularity of questions to focus on "information". That is to say, when the other party can give you a clear answer in two or three sentences, it's fine. 4. Pay attention to information Always remember this thinking structure: 1) What problem do I want to solve? 2) What are the possible decision paths for this problem? 3) What information do I need, what information do I already have, and what information am I missing about these decision paths? All your questions should be related to (3), otherwise they are worthless. Finally, we provide a SCEIG model that you can use to screen your own questions. A good question should meet the following conditions: 1. Specific – It has specific scenarios and goals, and both parties have sufficient necessary information about it. 2. Closed —— Closed means it has a clear answer, is finite, and can be exhausted. 3.Easy – It can be answered in a few simple sentences without a lot of arguments, and is closer to “information” rather than “knowledge”. 4. Intentional—— What do I want this information to do? What is its value to me? Where does it fit in my decision path? You have clear answers to these questions, so as to maximize the value of the Q&A. 5.General - Your questions should not be too personal. It is best if they can make the respondent feel that they are "worth answering" and can be widely applied. It would be ideal if, based on these, your questions can allow the respondent to sort out and organize his or her own knowledge system during the thinking process. Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising The author of this article @Lachel compiled and published by (Qinggua Media), please indicate the author information and source when reprinting! |
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