Humble Inquiry

Communication is essential in a healthy organization. But all too often when we interact with people-especially those who report to us-we simply tell them what we think they need to know. This shuts them down. To generate bold new ideas to avoid disastrous mistakes to develop agility and flexibility we need to practice humble inquiry. Ed Schein defines humble inquiry as the fine art of drawing someone out of asking questions to which you do not know the answer of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person. in this seminal work Schein contrasts humble inquiry with other kinds of inquiry shows the benefits humble inquiry provides in many different settings and offers advice on overcoming the cultural organizational and psychological barriers that keep us from practicing it.