Now, in my previous post ‘What would be a useful choice‘ I talked about the question:
‘What would be a useful choice right now?’
This post builds on that, so if you haven’t already, do read it first.
The fastest and best way to get what I’m saying in this post is for you to just stop, and think about a problem situation you’re facing in your life right now. Think about it, see it, hear it, and feel it.
Now, asking yourself this question:
‘What would be a useful choice to do about this problem?’
Notice the answer that comes up, and remember it.
Now, facing the same problem situation, ask yourself this question:
‘What would be a quality choice to do about this problem?’
Notice the shift?
It can often be subtle, but it’s there.
For me, the quality question expands my awareness of the problem situation and the choices I have available, and often, usefulness seems to give me useful-to-self answers, whereas quality gives me good-for-everyone and from now to the future type answers.
I think it’s because quality forces me to consider many more factors in my thinking. But, it can also be a harder question to ask. Many times in my coaching, when I’ve asked the usefulness question to others I’ve been able to get good and quick answers, whereas with the quality question there’ve been more blank faces or it takes a longer ‘lead-in’ time to frame the question.
But when it’s worked, it’s worked.
I’m curious. When you went through the above exercise (you did, didn’t you? I don’t want you to only have an intellectual awareness of this…experience it for yourself!), what differences did you notice? Leave me a note and let me know what your experience of the quality question was like versus the usefulness question.
Sidenote: Not having seen the quality question before applied in this way, I wonder if I can claim a little credit for it or I just need to read more 
But credit must first go where it’s due.
The question was inspired by one of my favorite books, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : An Inquiry into Values
December 4th, 2005 at 1:36 am
hey there guys! good to know that i can even hear out AKLTG’s coaches even when i’m chilling away at home.I love this blog.Keep up the fabulous work guys.Adios!
December 5th, 2005 at 1:12 am
Hey Sumita! If you love this, let your friends know. Heh heh. Get your mum on this to, coz Anu will appreciate this as much as you.
Alvin, after you’ve shared the quality question method with us a while back. We’ve all had a chance to apply it and put our own spin on it. It does make me expand the limits of my answers.
One thing I am still struggling with while using this approach during coaching is finding a faster route to generate an positive response instead of a “huh?” punctuated with a blank look.
The elegance of a QQ is lost when the subject fails to expand his model of the world. So it’s to be used with discretion and only if you are calibrating the person you are working with exquisitely.
Now what I find really useful is when I use this as a pattern interrupt to probe for something that would expand things beyond just useful.
Thus it’s useful as a challenge to check on the well-formedness of an outcome thought to have already achieved.
I often use this a a prelude to value-elicitaion and belief change exercise too.
You are right, I’ve not read about this anywhere and you can claim it unabashedly as Alvin’s QQ. Haha. Congrats!!
December 14th, 2005 at 3:06 am
Just a sudden trace of thought….
jst testing it out….. 
What’s a useful question to ask when encounter with a situation where my thoughts travel way fast in time than the pple I’m communicating with in a conversation and I’m mis-matching them in thinking and conversation by speeding to outcome, steps, conclusion…..
hm…..
(heee…:-P keee….. jst practising this questioning strategy …)
hm… pause for a moment. can i braise with time and freeze my thoughts for a while and still allow information or more clues to surface before I jump the gun too fwd??? hm… rapport and communication is a dance… guess i can link back and structure my thoughts….
OOpphs… er….sorry. this’s a place for comments and feedback…..