#145: Double-Barreled Questions, Kipling Questions & the Columbo Method
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Asking Questions
I. Double-Barreled Questions
Beware of Double-Barreled Questions! Asking someone a question that includes two or more different issues but only allows for one answer is a sure way to render their response useless.
Take my little poll below: “Do you enjoy this newsletter and read it every week?” Some may enjoy the newsletter but not read it every week. Another group may enjoy the newsletter and read it every week. Others might read it every week but…not enjoy it, I guess. There’s no way for me to know what the Yes or No answers refer to and what respondents meant to say.
So to avoid confusing the audience and yourself, beware of Double-Barreled Questions!
II. Kipling Questions
Kipling Questions is a fancy name for a set of age-old powerful questions. It comes from a poem written by English novelist Rudyard Kipling:
I Keep Six Honest Serving Men
I KEEP six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.
I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
I know a person small—
She keeps ten million serving-men,
Who get no rest at all!
She sends’em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes —
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
And seven million Whys!
—Rudyard KiplingIII. Columbo Method
The Columbo Method goes back to a TV detective of the same name. With his battered trench coat, clumsy and perpetually confused demeanour he appeared ignorant and harmless. But he was smarter than he looked. Much to the surprise of the intellectual and high-profile murderers he investigated.
His signature move was to play the part of the incompetent inspector until the suspects lowered their defences. Once their minds were put at ease with random innocuous questions, Columbo would strike. Just when he was almost out the door, he would turn around and ask about that “one last thing…”. Which was usually the question the irritated suspects incriminated themselves with.
For a deeper dive into the art of asking questions, check out my article How to Ask Good Questions: 5 Ways to Discover the Truth. 🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com