Have you ever been caught off guard by a surprising question?
That is the power of the weapon called 'question'.

Asking questions is not simply an act of asking a question.
It is a tool that helps me organize my thoughts and is the technique that conveys my intentions to the other person most quickly and powerfully.
This book broadly divides the uses of questions into four categories: goal achievement, interpersonal relationships, performance improvement, and leadership, and provides effective questioning methods for each use.

As a management consultant who spends his career talking to countless businesspeople, the author has seen, heard, and felt countless times how questions can wield incredible power in business and in our lives.
He calls the power to ask questions confidently without worrying about what others think the "question muscle."
By training your questioning muscles, you can get to the heart of a problem more quickly and develop a roadmap to achieve your goals.
The author, in his characteristically witty tone, tells us how to train our questioning muscles, which are gradually atrophying in modern society.

How can we make sound decisions? Here's a good question to ask.
It is a question that changes the axis of time.
We always think and make decisions based on the present moment.
However, most decisions are made in the present, but their consequences extend over many years.
So, when you regret a decision that was wrong, it is often already irreversible.
The best way to prevent this is to ask questions that move back and forth across the time axis.
It's about looking at your present decisions from a future perspective.

--- p.36

One of the best questions is one that defies conventional wisdom.
It's about questioning what others take for granted.
For example, something like this.
Confucius said that the age of forty was 'not confused', fifty was 'knowing the destiny of heaven', and sixty was 'listening to the will of God'.
At forty, you will not be tempted, at fifty, you will know the will of heaven, and at sixty, no matter what you hear, it will not offend your ears.
What do you think about this statement? I think there's a paradox in it.
How could you not succumb to temptation just because you're turning forty? Isn't the phrase "forty" aptly meaning "forty is the age most susceptible to temptation," and therefore, "forty" is a time to be extra cautious?
--- p.48~49

The best question is one that asks again about the definition of the concept.
It's worth pondering what exactly that means.
It is about making sure that your own definition is correct, not the definition given by others.
Any manager should be able to explain what management is, and anyone who desperately wants to succeed should be able to draw a clear picture of what success looks like to them.
The same goes for people who want to become rich.
I need to be able to say what money is and what I think rich people are.

--- p.65

Why is listening important? First, we need to listen to learn something.
We cannot learn while talking.
To learn something, you have to keep your mouth shut, ask questions, and listen to what the other person is saying.
Second, you can become close to the other person only if you listen.
You have to listen to win people's hearts, and only then can you persuade them.
Listening is the starting point of interpersonal relationships.
A characteristic of people with bad interpersonal relationships is that they do not listen well.
Listening with interest is the best form of flattery.
Third, I must open my ears before I can open the other person's mouth.
This is especially true for people with higher positions.
Organizations where CEOs are good listeners have a vibrant communication pipeline.
Because you listen carefully, information, problems, and sounds from the field are vividly conveyed to you.
Conversely, if the CEO's ears are blocked, no information will flow upward.
The moment people decide that talking is useless, they stop talking, and that's when the organization falls apart.
Fourth, you can do business well only if you listen well.
A hallmark of a first-class salesperson is that they listen well.
Another characteristic of first-class businessmen is that they listen well.
You can win the other person's favor by listening well and accurately understanding their needs.

--- p.109~110

Questions are like navigation.
Asking questions is the most important step in setting a destination.
Do you want to become a top employee? If so, constantly ask yourself who your best employee is and how to become one.
First, you have to throw it at yourself.
Think about who your company's most recognized best employee is, who you think is the best employee among those around you, why you think so, and what actions you would like to emulate from that person.
What would happen if you spent a month thinking about who your best employee is? Chances are, he or she would already be one.

--- p.117

The executive meeting is attended by players in each field.
No wonder, everyone thinks they are experts.
Then it is difficult to ask questions.
The best way to address this is to occasionally bring in a stranger, someone who doesn't know the field, or an expert in another field to muddy the waters.
A strange question comes out of his mouth, a question he had never thought of.
“What is the essence of karma?” “What is the core of this karma?” “Why should I do this?” There may be unexpected results.
Knowing something and thinking you know it are two different things.
Another way is to occasionally ask yourself what you know, what you don't know, and what the definition of knowing is.

--- p.133~134

What kind of victim mentality do you have? Do you feel you've suffered a loss because of something? Or do you feel there's no benefit to be gained from it? Everything in life has two sides.
If you gain something, you lose something, and if you lose something, you gain something.
That's why, when you gain something, it's a good idea to ask yourself, "What do I have to lose by getting this?"
Conversely, when you feel like you're losing something, you should ask yourself, "What do I gain from this?"
Then you can change your perspective.

--- p.147

To ask a question, you need to take some time alone and think deeply.
In the process, all unnecessary words and words that do not need to be said are filtered out.
To turn what you want to say into a question, you have to think from the employees' perspective.
This process is particularly important.
Because it makes you reflect on yourself.
Did I communicate correctly? Were my staff adequately trained? Were they given enough support to achieve their goals? Was there something wrong with the strategy itself? Am I being too hasty? It's easy to just say whatever I want.
It is very difficult to turn what you want to say into a question and get it out of your employees' mouths.
A leader cannot have all the answers.
A leader must be able to move the minds of his employees through questions.

--- p.169~170

So what questions should we ask? First, a question about goals.
This is the most important thing.
You need to see if the goal is clear, if it is aligned with the company's overall goals, and if the person is committed to the goal.
Surprisingly, there are many people who do not have clear goals.
It's unclear what you're going to do.
In such cases, you should ask additional questions to make the goal clearer.
It's a kind of zero point adjustment, screen adjustment time.
You need to ask yourself what is certain, what you would like to be more certain about, and whether you can quantify your goals.
You also need to ask yourself what achieving your goals means to you.
This is because many employees think that goals are assigned, that they are too much for them, and that achieving them only benefits the company and has no meaning to them.
The best thing to do is to realize for yourself that achieving your goals means a lot to you.
Just as important as the goal itself is the process of sharing the goal.

--- p.174~175

People rarely ask questions, and they are reluctant to answer them.
The moment you think it's safer to keep your mouth shut, no one opens their mouth.
The most important thing to create an atmosphere of free communication is psychological safety.
You should be able to express your opinion without worrying about what others think.
Does your organization have psychological safety? Is there an atmosphere where people feel comfortable sharing their stories during meetings?

--- p.190