My son came up to me one day and asked me how a certain word is spelled.  I responded back with a question, “how do you think it’s spelled?”.  He got a look of frustration and eventually answered the question.  He responded with the wrong spelling, so then I asked him, “why do you think it’s spelled that way?”.  Again, another look of frustration as he hadn’t signed up for this, all he wanted was the answer.  But he proceeded with explaining why he thinks it’s spelled that way and during his explanation he caught his mistake.

When we have to go through our thinking process to find the answer for ourselves, it’s much more likely that we will retain this information as opposed to just being given the answer.  And so you use this to be an effective teacher.  Don’t just give the answers, guide them with key questions to help them find the answer for themselves.  This is what’s known as the Socratic Method of teaching developed by the Greek philosopher Socrates.  The process might take longer, and there’s a chance the answer seeker will get frustrated in the process, but it definitely pays off!

This method also works very well to get buy in from someone.  Lets say you’re receiving incorrect information from another department at work that is causing both you and them a lot of issues, and you know what the other department has to do different to fix it.  If you go present them with your idea and ask if they can make that change, chances are they will thank you for it and just keep doing what they were doing.  If on the other hand you ask them key questions, on the topic of “how can we fix it?”, and guide them towards the solution, now it has become their idea.  And just like you were attached to your idea and made it your baby, they will become attached to their idea and will be eager to get it done!  Yes, this does involve putting your ego aside, the part of you that wants to tell the world about all the great ideas you have.  In the end however, by making improvements around you, you will surround yourself with success wherever you go and people will notice!