Humble Inquiry, Second Edition: The Art of Asking Questions to Unlock Meaningful Conversations

PERICLES: The book is very interesting with great achievment

Brazil on Jul 29, 2023

Placeholder: This book is very practical and teaches a lot of difference between telling vs asking. Importance of humble enquiry is definitely an art and this books make it easy for readers to understand and apply in day to day life or professional life. Ability of the author to make this extremely simple for anyone to understand makes it one of the best books I have come across on humble enquiry.

India on Dec 04, 2022

ariske: The author suggests to deliberately make yourself vulnerable through Humble Inquiry, although this can be challenging in that you risk being snubbed or ignored. However, to build the true relationship and trust, it is imperative. Otherwise, people would be inclined to "tell" to others all too often, which never allows for relationship building. Also, willingness to know others with empathy is the first and foremost step, according to the author, and he introduces a few frameworks to adopt it for effective inquiry.
Apart from that, he also argues that the cultural norms in the US does not fit this Humble Inquiry by nature, as the individualism and the task-performance evaluation prevails its working culture. Though I am not from the US, this argument is intriguing.
By doing 12 exercises in the last part, I realized that I have a propensity to often ask for voices but rarely show my own empathy and feelings to the counterpart. As relation lays on the "give and take" principle, I need to change myself by showing my vulnerability with my true feelings.

Japan on Jul 06, 2022

AB: A thirty-something- you meet a friend at a bar. Your partner says “I am continuing to have an issue with my partner. He/she never seems to listen to me or to hear what I’m saying …”

Do you know what is the best response?

Maybe reading this book could give you a process to get you to the best response.

India on Apr 30, 2021

Richard J. Newton: I rather liked this little book. I've been a fan of Schein's thinking for a long time, since I was first introduced to his ideas on Process Consulting when I was a junior management consultant, (I know, we all have things in our pasts that are embarrassing!).

This is a very easy read with deceptively simple advice, but summarises decades of experience on what really brings people and teams together, and what avoids the significant problems that result from a failure of people to effectively communicate.

It is aimed at the American market, and most of the examples are about the way Americans tend to interact. It is particularly good in explaining how individualism and the competitive spirit can get in the way of effective communications. But before others get too self-assured that the problems explained here are unique to the USA, its worth a little humility and willingness to be open to the ideas. They are simple, but profound and I suspect universally applicable.

United Kingdom on Jan 29, 2020

Amazon Customer: “Humble Inquiry” reflects Edgar Schein’s lifetime experiences as a social and organizational psychologist and contains lessons not only for business people, but everyone. Schein discusses how mastering humble inquiry can help leaders to overcome obstacles in establishing trustworthy relationships in the organization for increased motivation and performance excellence. Schein also explains the process of not “telling,” but “asking”, and the importance of how communication is conveyed.

While Schein writes the book, he explains how to create a climate where the individual feels motivated to communicate in teams and with leaders freely. To create this environment, a leader must build a strong rapport and trusting relationship with their subordinates. Schein suggests that this creates an interdependence between the leader and the employee. One where the employee would feel comfortable correcting their boss if they deemed it necessary. In the book, the author gives an example of nurses and techs in hospitals. Techs and nurses are reprimanded by doctors through their hierarchical structure, and this can lead to them not feeling comfortable expressing legitimate...

United States on Oct 09, 2017

Amazon Customer: “Humble Inquiry is the skill and the art of drawing someone out, of asking questions to which you do not already know the answer, of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person”. (p 21)
Schein clearly articulates the many benefits of his “Humble Inquiry” method through relational examples and situational application across disciplines. To start, he defines what exactly “Humble Inquiry” is, the art of asking with “here and now humility” instead of telling in relationships. Schein defines three types of humility: basic humility, optional humility, and here and now humility. The other key facet of this perspective is the inquiry aspect. Schein insists that inquiry is both “an art and a science”. While inquiry and question formulation has been thoroughly researched, daily it is often overlooked within human interaction.
Throughout the book, Schein provides examples of opportunities for “Humble Inquiry”, as well as missed opportunities. Through personal life examples in the text, we can see that “what we ask, how we ask it, where we ask it, and when we ask it all matter” (pg. 19). Whether the situation is peer to peer,...

United States on May 02, 2017