QBQ!

QBQ! will teach you to ask better questions and stay accountable and why doing so will change every aspect of your life for the better.

There are two types of questions. The wrong ones that lead to inaction and pain are called IQ’s, or “Incorrect Questions.” These are the questions like “why me?” that come up after something goes wrong. In contrast, the Question Behind the Question (QBQ) is “behind” those initial negative thoughts we might have when a difficulty arises. Learning to ask the QBQ will help you successfully navigate any hardship.

Think of how you feel when you hear questions like these, for example:

“When is management going to provide us with more products?” “Why are we always so short-staffed?”  “When are the customers going to learn to read the menu?”

Each of these statements is full of blame, negativity, and a disturbing lack of ownership. On the flip side, QBQ’s always start with “what” or “how,” like these:

“What can I do to make this situation better?” “How can I do this differently in a way that works?”

Reading those questions and asking ones like them is empowering. They are full of opportunity, enthusiasm, and ownership. QBQ’s help your brain change from a state of feeling victimized to a focus on how to make a difference and move forward. Just like the young man at the restaurant, people that ask QBQ’s have a natural energy about them, and they get ahead in life. The first step to forming a QBQ is to begin with “what” or “how.”

People these days seem to be all about blaming everyone but themselves for their problems. We hear people say of their troubles “it’s just the way it is” without any hope for changing their situation. Many feel entitled to benefits without any willingness to become proactive and accountable for improving their situation.

Don’t be like the rest of the world. Instead of blaming everything else for your problems, maintain accountability by asking questions with “I” in them. Doing so will help you take ownership over aspects of your life that you feel you can never improve. Things that seem permanent to you now will become changeable when you put “I” into your questions.

Some situations prove to have barriers that seem insurmountable. Often we find ourselves focusing only on these problems and our limitations, rather than what we can change. By asking questions with “I” in them, we shift the focus from what we can’t improve, to what we can. Once we do that, our situation seems so much better.