The idea
When someone brings you a problem, an immediate answer feels efficient. It can also teach them that thinking ends at your desk. A good question interrupts that pattern and returns ownership to the person closest to the work.
The useful questions are neither riddles nor tests. They make the decision clearer: What evidence matters? Which assumption is fragile? What would you do if I were unavailable? What is the smallest safe experiment? Ask because you want their thinking, not because you are withholding approval.
Make it concrete
A product manager asks whether to delay a launch. The leader could vote immediately. Instead, she asks: “What new information would justify a delay, and when will we have it?” The team identifies one unresolved security test, assigns an owner, and sets a decision deadline. The question turns anxiety into a decision process.
Add direction when it matters
Questions are not an excuse for ambiguity. State the non-negotiable outcome, constraints, decision owner, and deadline. Then create room inside those boundaries. People think best when they know which parts are truly theirs to solve.
Try it
Replace one piece of advice today with: “What options have you considered, and what tradeoff makes this difficult?” Listen without steering the first answer.