If you’re a leader who seeks to better understand your direct reports – or a parent wanting to connect with your children – learning how to ask a good question might be a worthy New Year’s resolution. Asking a question might sound simple, but crafting a question that has the power to jumpstart better thinking in someone else – that’s another matter. Like any exquisite talent, questioning can be under-utilized, over-relied-upon or recklessly abused. For example, through h

Standard procedures have been developed by modern medicine to diagnose a broken bone, a bladder infection or a blocked artery. In a similar way, technical problems in organizations – a malfunctioning machine, a compliance problem, or a design glitch – can often be remedied with prescribed processes. While routine challenges can often be addressed decisively creating only temporary disruption, that’s not the case with more complicated problems. No physician can certify w

In last month’s blog, I explored the importance of connection and separation in work and family relationships. Dr. Murray Bowen, an eminent psychiatrist, carried out extensive research on “selfhood,” or what he called an individual’s ability to “differentiate self from others.” His early studies of differentiation were initially based on parents’ ability to emotionally separate from their children to promote responsibility and autonomy. Bowen made it clear that developing