the twelve most powerful 'get unstuck' questions in the world - michael bungay stanier

Michael Bungay Stanier, BA LLB MPhil CPCC

2006 Canadian Coach of the YearCreator, Get Unstuck & Get Going ...on the stuff that matters

©Michael Bungay Stanier, Box of Crayons 2006

The

TWELVEmost powerful

‘Get Unstuck’ questionsin the world

… and why they work so well


The Twelve Most Powerful ‘Get Unstuck’ Questions In the World … and why they work so well

Michael Bungay Stanier 2

Get Unstuck & Get Going...on the stuff that matters

Michael Bungay Stanier, BA LLB MPhil CPCC

2006 Canadian Coach of the Year

PS — you can find out more about me on the last page of this ebook

PPS — for even more support in getting unstuck, you’re welcome to downloadmy self-coaching worksheet, The Action Acceleration Sheet. It takes you from stuckto an action plan in seven simple yet powerful steps. You can download it for free.

WE ALL GET STUCK, ALL THE TIME.

Here are just some of the ways ‘stuck’ might show up for you:

• Stuck is when you can only see one way forward — and it’s not the route you want to take

• Stuck is when you have many options — and the thought of choosing paralyzes you

• Stuck is when you know what to do — but don’t know how to begin

• Stuck is when you don’t know what to do — and you can’t quite define the challenge

• Stuck is when you’re waiting to be rescued — and your superhero isn’t showing up

• Stuck is when you’re doing it all on your own — and it’s wearing you out

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE ALL GET UNSTUCK ALL THE TIME.

We’re smart, creative people. We figure things out. The situation changes, either because we makeit change or just because time moves on.

These questions are there to help you get unstuck faster and more efficiently.

In writing my self-coaching tool, Get Unstuck & Get Going Going …on the stuff that matters,I collected over 200 powerful coaching questions.

Of those 200, these are my favourite twelve. (Actually, there are thirteen — on page 17 I’ve given youthe bonus question that makes all the others twice as powerful).

Good luck in getting unstuck!

http://www.getunstuckandgetgoing.com/

http://www.getunstuckandgetgoing.com/pdf/ActionAccelerationSheet.pdf




The Art of AskingPowerful Questions

When doing my coach training, it became clear that the art of asking powerfulquestions is central to this learning process.

What really amazed me, however, was seeing how many of these questions seemed to workno matter what the situation or wherever we were in the coaching process.

These were questions that always seemed to shift the moment, shake things up, get things unstuck.

The questions that follow are my favourite twelve, questions that never fail to make stuffhappen. You’ll notice some common characteristics:

• They’re short

• They’re open (that is, they don’t expect the answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’)

• They’re not easy to answer quickly — pat answers just don’t wash here

• They have a universal quality

There’s a certain, loose logic to the way I’ve framed the questions:

• The first two help get clear on what your challenge might be, the place whereyou’re feeling stuck

• The next four questions help shine some clarity on what’s going on

• The next three help you create new possibilities as to what you could do

• And the final three questions help you get clear on what you will do to move things forward

You’ll see the twelve questions on the pages that follow. I’ve also explained just why they’reas effective as they are.

And don’t forget to check out the bonus thirteenth question, a question that will doublethe effectiveness of the twelve questions that proceed it.




The

TWELVEpowerful questions

What do you want?

What’s the real challenge here?

How are you responsible for this?

What are you afraid of?

What do you know to be true?

What do you notice in your body right now?

What’s the rebellious, unexpected thing to do?

If you knew you could not fail, what would you do?

How are you getting in your own way?

What’s becoming clear?

Is this a ‘yes’? Or is it a ‘no’?

If you say ‘yes’ to this, what are you saying ‘no’ to?




What do you want?

WHY IT WORKS SO WELL

Seneca wrote, “When a man doesn’t know what harbour he is making for, nowind is the right one.”

Stepping back and getting clear on what you want, on what success looks like,is the best first step to getting unstuck.




What’s the real challenge here?


Sometimes the place where we think we’re stuck is a ‘red herring’, a smokescreen for what is the deeper, more powerful challenge.

This is a question to ponder, to find out what’s the stuff that really matters.




How are you responsible for this?


This question gives you back responsibility for what’s going on. One common‘stuck’ situation is when ‘they’ are doing something to you. Because it’sabout ‘them’ (whoever they are), you give up all power — and responsibility— for finding a solution.

By getting clear on your role in this, you can start finding out what’s withinyour control and what you can influence in getting unstuck.




What are you afraid of?


Many of us manage fear through denial: push it down, push it away, just keepon moving.

Articulating your fear, speaking it out aloud, both clarifies what it is that you’reafraid of and also ‘draws its sting’.

Once you know what you’re afraid of, you can do something about it.




What do you know to be true?


In the swirl of the moment, the hurly-burly of the battle, it’s easy to lose sightof what’s important.

This question reconnects you to what’s important, what’s solid. This questiongets you grounded.




What do you notice in your bodyright now?


This questions shifts you out of your head and taps into the wisdom ofyour body.

Notice your breathing. Notice where you’re holding tension in your body.Notice how you’re sitting.

Stay with this. Where’s the wisdom here?




What’s the rebellious,unexpected thing to do?


We all carry rules around in our heads about what we’re allowed and notallowed to do.

Asking this question opens up new possibilities.

It also uncovers (and helps you question) these rules, rules that you mayfind are just begging to be broken!




If you knew you could not fail,what would you do?


Put aside all those limitations, both real and self-imposed.

Now, from this new place of great possibilities, what could you do?

This question helps you be your boldest and bravest self.




How are you getting in yourown way?


We are so often the source of our own limitations. We sabotage our ownattempts at change and at greatness.

Our ‘inner critic’, that gremlin in our heads, keeps whispering, “You can’tdo it — who are you to even try?”

Knowing how you get in your own way helps you start looking for thesupport you need to get beyond it.




What’s becoming clear?


Another way to ask this question is, “Are we there yet?” This questionhelps you stop trying to figure it out, and gets you clear on what you’vealready figured out.

This question allows you to mark off (and then protect) progress.Sometimes this is the last question you need to ask.




Is this a ‘yes’? Or is it a ‘no’?


This question pulls you out of the minutiae, and makes you ask on a ‘gutlevel’ feel, what’s going on.

(‘Gut level’ isn’t necessarily ‘the truth’ — but it is a useful perspective to testout and to get clear on.)




If you say ‘yes’ to this,what are you saying ‘no’ to?

(If you say ‘no’ to this,what are you saying ‘yes’ to?)


In all the work I’ve done with clients — on strategy, on branding, on innova-tion, as a coach — it’s been clear that often the critical challenge has beento articulate the ‘no’. Saying ‘yes’ can be easy. But the ‘no’ is required toprovide balance.

This question makes your choices real. You can’t just add the ‘yes’; youneed to create space for it by saying ‘no’.




And your special, bonuspowerful question is…




And what else?


There’s always more to be said beyond the first answer.

This question begins to uncover all the extra, juicy stuff.

Keep asking it until you run out of answers.




Michael Bungay StanierBA LLB MPhil CPCC

2006 Canadian Coach of the Year

Michael is the Principal of Box of Crayons, a Toronto-based company. He has held senior positions in thecorporate, consultancy and agency worlds. He works with clients around the world to get unstuck, getgoing on the stuff that matters and discover what’s possible. These clients range from blue-chip organizationsacross all sectors to individual entrepreneurs.

He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and holds an M Phil from Oxford, and a law degree anda BA with highest honours from the Australian National University. He is a certified coach and the 2006Canadian Coach of the Year.

Michael is the author of Get Unstuck & Get Going …on the stuff that matters a self-coaching tool thathas been enthusiastically taken up by people and organizations across the world.

He is also the creator of The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun, an internet flash movie that’s been seenby tens of thousands of people across the world.

He is a well-known and popular professional keynote speaker and workshop leader. He has lectured atuniversities in the UK and in Canada, and has spoken at business and coaching conferences across theworld. You can find out more about his keynote speaking topics here.

Michael has also published numerous articles on diverse subjects in the business, academic and lifestyle.He writes a bi-weekly newsletter, Outside the Lines.

Michael loves adventures and is a firm believer in life-long learning. Some adventures so far include sky-diving, teaching children in Chile to sing “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree”, and rappelling off anaqueduct in a Welsh snowstorm. He has trained with individuals and organizations such as the CoachTraining Institute, Edgar Schein, The Bigger Game and The ManKind Project.

Michael serves on the board of Addus, a non-profit organization supporting adults with developmentaldisabilities, and on the Constituent Advisory Committee for About Face International, a non-profit organizationworking with people with facial differences. He also works with The World Council, an organization thathelps enroll youth in a vision for global harmony.

His motto is “WHAT’S POSSIBLE?”

www.EightPrinciples.com

http://www.GetUnstuckAndGetGoing.com

http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/index.php

http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/pdf/Keynote_Speaking_PDF.pdf

http://www.getunstuckandgetgoing.com/newsletter.php

the twelve most powerful 'get unstuck' questions in the world - michael bungay stanier

Documents