SuperLearning: Powerful Questions
In This Episode
Do you know how to use questions to supercharge your learning? Tune into episode #2 in our SuperLearning series on the LeaderLab to find out how.
Transcript
Vanessa Tanicien: Hello and welcome to the LeaderLab, the podcast powered by LifeLabs Learning. I'm your host and LifeLabs' leadership trainer, Vanessa Tanicien. In each episode, my Labmates and I distill our findings into powerful tipping point skills — the smallest changes that tip over to make the biggest impact in the shortest time. If you've taken a workshop with LifeLabs, you've probably noticed we're a fan of questions. We talk about them in coaching, influential communication, strategic thinking, the list goes on and on, but today we're going to be talking about questions that help us learn, to help us with that is Robleh Kirce. Robleh is our head of research, and he helped us open our San Francisco office for LifeLabs. We affectionately call him a dinosaur because he's been here for over five years. Fun fact about Robleh, both he and his father majored in psychology in their undergraduate studies. It runs in the family. Robleh, welcome back to the lab.
Robleh Kirce: Hey, thanks Vanessa. I'm not exactly sure if that's the intro we agreed on, but nonetheless.
Vanessa Tanicien: I think they're going to like it.
Robleh Kirce: Let's get into it today. As you mentioned, questions can be a very powerful tool in a variety of different avenues. Can improve meetings, we can do better strategic thinking, negotiations, and even ... that's where I was hoping for a spontaneous drum roll.
Vanessa Tanicien: You got to cue me in better.
Robleh Kirce: Questions allow us to access more intentional learning really through three avenues. First, it just gives us a chance to focus our attention. Can't overstate the importance of that in 2020 and in 2021, attention is up for grabs.
Vanessa Tanicien: What did you say again?
Robleh Kirce: We want to get some control back and focus it ourselves. The other thing that helps us do is organize new material in the brain and integrate new information with existing knowledge. All of this stacks up in such a way that actually allows us to learn things faster and longer when we apply questions intentionally on the front end.
Vanessa Tanicien: Thinking about the learning questions and the learning question orientation, what does the research say about how questions help us learn?
Robleh Kirce: There's been a good number of studies that have been done on this. As you might suspect, academics are often studying, how can they make sure their students are learning what they want them to learn? One of my favorite studies on this though, is Allison King back in 1991, she looked at both high school and college students and she trained them to ask questions like, what's the main idea of fill in the blank, or how does this relate to something else that you're already familiar with? Turns out it does actually help them learn.
Vanessa Tanicien: For this theme, we're talking about SuperLearning. I'm really excited about powerful questions. Last week, we were talking with Massella, and she was talking about extraction, which also seems question-fueled. I want to know what generally is the difference between double loop learning and what we're talking about today.
Robleh Kirce: What's nice about double loop learning is it gives you a chance to extract the learning that you've already acquired. Make sure that it sticks with you. The value in powerful questions as we're talking about them here, is there's a chance to get really intentional about the learning that you do want to do in the future. Really a chance to activate the learning mind, to pick up the learning that's right there in front of you.
Vanessa Tanicien: Powerful questions to activate the learning mind. It sounds like a book that you're trying to write. Am I wrong about that?
Robleh Kirce: Let's take it one step at a time. Let's break this podcast down. We'll see how that goes.
Vanessa Tanicien: When we're thinking about powerful questions, is there a tool or technique that you tend to lean towards?
Robleh Kirce: I can't help myself. I came up with my own tool. I could share it.
Vanessa Tanicien: Of course, you did.
Robleh Kirce: Few others if you'd like me to. I came up with something that really takes all the research that's been done around the power of questions in the learning process and puts it to good use, something called where it is at, where it's at.
Vanessa Tanicien: I'm curious, where it at. What specifically is this SuperLearning tool?
Robleh Kirce: Where it at is four questions that you can apply in almost any situation in life. Now, obviously we have really intentional learning situations like a training environment. You're going through a workshop maybe with LifeLabs. I don't know, probably.
Robleh Kirce: Subtle, I know. Then you also got applications any moment that you're frustrated or any moment that you're bored, these are great opportunities to transition frustration or boredom into just learning more about the situation and what you really want. Four questions here. We got first, what is your intention? That's your I. Next is what would make that time you spent just 10% more useful? T for 10%. Where can you apply the learning? That's your A. Then when can you try it? T for try. Where it at? Those four questions are going to help you maximize your learning opportunities that are right in front of you.
Vanessa Tanicien: Intention, I, 10% better, T, apply, A and try, T. I'm learning already.
Robleh Kirce: It's pretty catchy, that book's going to write itself, I'm telling you.
Vanessa Tanicien: Robleh, I'm curious how listeners and myself can use where it at, in the world of work. Let's give this thing a spin. Are you willing to take me on a guided ride? I'm apparently rhyming a ton, sorry.
Robleh Kirce: A guided ride and we'll find out where it at. Let's start by having you identify a place where you'd like to intentionally activate your learning mind.
Vanessa Tanicien: Intentionally activate that learning mind. Even that question is pretty cool. Team meetings is a big place because yes, sometimes it's just about updates, but there are also other opportunities to connect with others or showcase some ideas, ask good questions. That is a great place to remain engaged.
Robleh Kirce: What I'm hearing from you is you want to learn how to maximize your time in those recurring team meetings that sometimes, maybe your intention can drift. What's an intention that you'd like to have for an upcoming meeting?
Vanessa Tanicien: One of my intentions is to just connect with the team. It's very easy for me to not do that since some of these meetings are obligatory, having that opportunity to do that would be great.
Robleh Kirce: Greater intention to connect with other folks that are in the meeting with you. What could you do that would make it just 10% more useful either for you or for them?
Vanessa Tanicien: As our team grows and we're doing these meetings on zoom, a lot of information can pass people by without being registered. One of the things that I'd like to do more, is summarizing some of the points that were made in the meeting in the chat. If you had to step away, attend to a significant other or mailman or a baby or whoever you have in the home, since we're all here for a little longer, and it might be helpful to keep everybody on track.
Robleh Kirce: It's a way of increasing social connection, but also helping folks stay up to speed with what's happening inside of the meeting, capturing that in chat, love it. We already know where you're going to apply, you got the team meeting, but when will you try it?
Vanessa Tanicien: It looks like the next team meeting, if you'll be there. I think your face will be another If-then cue for me.
Robleh Kirce: I have that problem.
Vanessa Tanicien: Thinking about accountability, this brings me into the realm of working with teams and if I'm leading a team, how can I use where it at to help them?
Robleh Kirce: I thought you'd never ask Vanessa. There's a variety of applications here. If you've got your team going through an intentional learning opportunity, these are four questions that are going to really help them maximize the learning they can do while they're there. Again, for example, someone's going through a workshop with LifeLabs. You might want to encourage them to ask themselves these four questions before they even start, start with what's the intention there. The other opportunity is if you notice someone on your team feeling frustrated or getting a little bit of stress, in the meeting you're in with them real time, just ask what's the intention of the meeting they're in right now.
Vanessa Tanicien: It seems you can even break up the questions depending on your needs.
Robleh Kirce: You got it. It's where it at, very versatile tool.
Vanessa Tanicien: To activate my mind and see if I've captured this super learning tool where it at. I stands for intention, T stands for 10% better either for me or for the others around me, bonus points for that, A is where am I going to apply it? T is the next time I will try it. Did I get that right?
Robleh Kirce: You got it. What can you apply and when will you try it?
Vanessa Tanicien: That brings us to our LeaderLab listener experiment. Robleh, what should people be experimenting within their laboratories of life?
Robleh Kirce: All of life's laboratory, which means all of life can be a learning opportunity. This is a tool that's intended to not let you miss out on those learning opportunities, but sometimes passes by, anytime you want to activate the learning mind, ask, where it at and try it out.
Vanessa Tanicien: That's a wrap of another episode of the LeaderLab, make sure to subscribe and share this with at least one other person. We can all benefit from being super learners. It's pretty exciting. The Leader Lab is executive produced and hosted by me, Vanessa Tanicien, NeEddra James is our senior producer and Alana Burman is our director and editor. If you'd like to hang out with us on social, go ahead and find us on LinkedIn at LifeLabs Learning and on Twitter at LifeLabsLearn, to bring training to your team, head on over to lifelabslearning.com. See you in the lab soon.
