When stepping into an inquiry process people automatically open up space. They are curious about something and seek to learn more about whatever it is that they are curious about. However, how the inquiry process will be experienced will depend on how it is undertaken, and what its intention is.
Imagine an employee who was tasked with finding a specific product for his organization.
When he then reports to his boss, he may find himself within a very limited space if the question he is asked is restricted to wanting to know the price. An experienced employee will know that this is the most important factor. It can lead to restricting himself to finding a service that matches the price range he assumes his boss wants to pay. In such a case he most probably will prioritize the price over other aspects of the product.
Another boss might be inquiring further into the offer. He can, for example, go through his list of things he wants to see provided by the product. The space opened up here is one that serves to confirm existing expectations. Here the employee may have made himself aware of the expectations he knows or assumes his boss has. Here again, the focus can easily be aligned with his boss’s desires more than with the effectiveness of this product. With such an inquiry process there is little incentive to develop a critical assessment and the focus may be more on fulfilling a given set of expectations.
Yet another boss might have a different approach to his inquiry. If he sets his intention, for example, on learning about the employee’s decision strategy while selecting the product he opens up a broader space. One that engages the employee in becoming or staying aware of his approach, the reasoning behind his choices, as well as in being able to describe it. This time, it is the boss’s task to find a way to become attuned to the way his employee works and decides. How much he seeks to know and make sure it is what he perceives as the right process will define the limits of the space available for their conversation. The more “being right” is introduced, the more the employee will seek to figure out how to align with his boss. The more they can let “being right” aside, the more learning can happen in this exchange.
Whatever the approach is, none is right or wrong here.
The chosen approach will depend on the situation and individual preferences. How complicated or easy the decision becomes may depend on the conversation as well as the ability to decide. And, how the boss’s intentions can be fulfilled will depend on circumstances including the existing communication.
What’s important is the choice of space they open up and how it correlates with the boss’s willingness to suspend his judgment.
A challenge may be to develop the capacity to suspend judgment during the inquiry and feel at ease with the process that unfolds. It’s a process that requires the ability to simply sit, that is, to tune into the experience instead of reaching for answers.
The other challenge can be to develop the capacity to suspend judgment beyond the space that was opened up during the inquiry. Take for example a decision based on the price, it leaves all the other variables of the decision to the employee and is an endorsement of his judgment. There is very little space available to blame or assign an error to the employee in that case.
