MINCH on Sources of Power

So, my podcast is designed to cover topics that may be helpful as a reminder to some and also for those who haven’t picked up the information along their journey so far.

Many of the topics apply not only to working life, but also to social interaction, answering some of the questions about why people do and say certain things in different situations.

This topic is Personal Accountability, thinking about ‘what can I do?’ when faced with difficult situations that arise even if the situation has been caused by others.

Ever found yourself asking questions similar to these?…

· Why are we always so low in numbers?

· Why didn’t they sort this out last week?

· Why do I have to do everything around here?

· Who is supposed to cover this?

· When will management provide better/more products?

· Why don’t they communicate better?

I think we have all, at some time or other fell into the trap

These ‘blame’ questions can of course be satisfying short term. Wasteful of both energy and effort, they direct the focus in the wrong direction.

The backdrop to all this is that proactive people tend to focus their efforts on the things they can do something about, in other words, the things within their control together with, those things  they might have some influence over.

Bearing in mind the one thing we do have control over is of course … ourselves! This means unlike the list of questions I started with we should be asking ourselves better questions. Questions that focus on what we can control. Converting blame questions to positive … proactive questions. This is what American author John G Miller called ‘the question behind the question’ or QBQ.

QBQ has three rules

1. Generally begin the question with ‘what’ or ‘how’

2. Questions contains ‘I’ not ‘we’ or ‘they’.

3. Focus is on action …(present or future and positive)

By asking the question behind the question we demonstrate true accountability and proactivity…better choices in the moment by asking better questions.

So applying QBQ, the questions behind the questions to those questions I gave at the beginning might sound something like…

Why are we always so low in numbers?

How can I deploy the people I have in the most effective way?

· Why didn’t they sort this out last week?

What can I do to get this sorted out?

· Why do I have to do everything around here?

How can I organise tasks and people better?

· Who is supposed to cover this?

What can I do to identify who is responsible for what?

· When will management provide better/more products?

What products can myself and others suggest to management?

· Why don’t they communicate better?

What can I do to help improve communication within the business?

Earlier I mentioned American author, trainer and coach John G Miller, he’s written a number of books on personal accountability which include QBQ The Question behind the question, Flipping the switch and Raising Accountable kids.

Please listen to MINCH on Personal Accountability