Where are we now? What do we want? How could we get there? What will we do? – take us from problem to plan.
There is great value in separating out 4 stages of action planning.
Each stage has a very different energy and psychology. When we separate them out we build stronger, better, clearer plans for action – more quickly.
The 4 Questions tool guides us through 4 layers of thinking, coaching or conversation:
Wide open conversation. Face reality comfortably. Deal in facts and share opinions. Seeing things as they are, not worse than they are – without worrying about how we fix them.
We can use the tool Great At, Grow At
Pull the most valuable insights from the where are we now conversation and turn them in to a small number of clear powerful goals – without needing to know how we will reach them.
We can use the tool Big 3
For each of our goals explore big ideas to reach them. See wide-open possibility, not restricted by our fixed thinking, fears or patterns of the past – without being burdened by immediate practicality.
We can use the tool Explore
Life is a game of inches, we go little bit by little bit towards those things we want. Set gritty, committed, next step actions towards our ideas and goals – without worrying about what we do after that.
We can use the tool Inches
When we free this structured thinking skill in ourselves, we find it simple to deal with any size challenge constructively. We think cleanly, build practical strategies and find big, powerful, empowered action comes easily. By going through this flow repeatedly we teach ourselves a way of constructive thinking that is empowering, takes away fear and stops us playing small.
Coaching others through the 4 Questions is rigorous and highly motivating. People are 20 times more likely to follow through on plans they have made themselves. When we coach others rather than tell them what to do, we free people to realise they know more and are capable of more than they thought. We teach them a way of thinking that changes the way they view their challenges and opportunities.
Guiding a group through a 4 Questions conversation enables people to share openly, agree goals together, enjoy creating ideas and make commitments to action they will hold each other to. Structured, enjoyable and robust conversations that skip the bun fight and create simple plans teams collectively believe in and will act on. 4 Questions conversations bring teams closer, and they realise… together, there is nothing they can’t figure out.
“I'm loving using the 4 Questions - it’s making work so much easier - I keep thinking ‘should it be this easy’.”
“I have been practicing the 4 questions tool for the last 2 years and as I refine my own technique the results get stronger and stronger. There is nothing better than watching a group or an individual coming up with a solution to a problem they had previously thought unconquerable.”
“My team leaders and myself had an amazing group Great at, Grow at and 4 Questions session last week, which whilst brutal at times, we all agreed we’d bonded more as result. We all came out with clear things to work on - grow at-s to improve and great at-s to keep doing.”
