Maxim #16
Understand the question first
Many people have a knee-jerk reaction to questions, and answer too quickly, assuming the question is challenging them in some way. The key point of this maxim is to make sure you properly understand what the “real” question is before trying to respond.
For example, in our business, a client may have a question about one of our observations or findings. It is easy to jump to the conclusion that the client does not believe in the findings and so you start to explain and justify why they are valid. In fact the client question may not be judgmental at all, he or she simply wants to better understand the issues. There may be no underlying need to be defensive. If you slow down your immediate response and probe for more information (such as, “can you expand on what you mean?”) you often get a very different picture than what you originally assume.
This maxim challenges us to do several key communication activities simultaneously. First and foremost listen carefully to the question. Try to understand both the content of the question (what is being asked) as well as the intent of the question (why it is being asked). Don’t jump to conclusions; ask for clarity or additional facts and explore the true intent of the question. It may be helpful to apply active listening techniques and reframe the question to make sure your understanding is correct. Only once you properly understand what the question is asking should you attempt to provide an answer.
And as always, if you don’t know the answer, don’t bluff. Acknowledge you don’t know and promise to find out and get back to the person.
