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QBQ! The Question Behind The Question: Practicing Personal Accountability At Work And In Life

Who Moved My Cheese? showed readers how to adapt to change. Fish! helped raise flagging morale. Execution guided readers to overcome the inability to get things done. QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, already a phenomenon in its self-published edition, addresses the most important issue in business and society today: personal accountability. The lack of personal accountability has resulted in an epidemic of blame, complaining, and procrastination. No organization-or individual-can achieve goals, compete in the marketplace, fulfill a vision, or develop people and teams without personal accountability. The solution involves an entirely new approach. We can no longer ask, "Who dropped the ball?" "Why can't they do their work properly?" or "Why do we have to go through all these changes?" Instead, every individual has to ask the question behind the question: "How can I improve this situation?" "What can I contribute?" or "How can I make a difference?" Succinct, insightful, and practical, QBQ! The Question Behind the Question provides a method for putting personal accountability into daily action, which can bring astonishing results: problems get solved, barriers come down, service improves, teamwork grows, and people adapt to change.

Hardcover: 160 pages

Publisher: TarcherPerigee; 1 edition (September 9, 2004)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0399152334

ISBN-13: 978-0399152337

Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.8 x 8.6 inches

Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (687 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #6,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #37 in Books > Self-Help > Stress Management #61 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living > Self Help #147 in Books > Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Motivational

In The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability in Business and in Life, John G. Miller presents an alternative way to look at our problems (or challenges) and encourages us to ask different, but better questions about them.Miller starts off by illustrating incorrect questions (IQ's). IQ's focus on things or people outside or external to us. Some examples might be "When will he learn to manage better?", "Why can't they see my point-of-view?", "Why can't they hire better workers?". IQ's tend to sap our energy and deflate our spirit.IQ's do, however, seem to come naturally, perhaps as a result of human nature. Miller often asks groups of people what's the one thing they would like to change in their organizations. The answers always follow the external P's: that is, change the policies, procedures, prices, and other people. "Nobody ever says me." As an example, look at the following questions and see what is the first response that comes to mind.-A poor subordinate blames the _____.-A poor executive blames the _____.-A poor driver blames the _____.Although these thoughts or questions may be natural, they lead us into blame, complaining, and procrastination. Miller's solution is to discipline our thoughts and to look behind our initial questions to come up with better questions-or, as he terms it, the question behind the question (QBQ).These are Miller's three guiding principles for better questions or QBQ's. Better questions:1. "Begin with what or how (not why, when or who)."2. "Contain I (not they, we, or you)."3. "Focus on action."A perfect example of a QBQ is "What can I do right now?" The essence of the QBQ system is that "the answers are in the questions".

In The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability in Business and in Life, John G. Miller presents an alternative way to look at our problems (or challenges) and encourages us to ask different, but better questions about them. In doing so, our efforts should have better results, our lives should be more rewarding, and others (e.g., customers, superiors, coworkers, subordinates, and family) should win as well. A wide body of research does concur with Miller, in that how we frame our problems and how we talk about them affects our well-being and our level of accomplishment.Miller starts off by illustrating incorrect questions (IQ's). IQ's focus on things or people outside or external to us. Some examples might be "When will he learn to manage better?", "Why can't they see my point-of-view?", "Why can't they hire better workers?". IQ's tend to sap our energy and deflate our spirit.IQ's do, however, seem to come naturally, perhaps as a result of human nature. Miller often asks groups of people what's the one thing they would like to change in their organizations. The answers always follow the external P's: that is, change the policies, procedures, prices, and other people. "Nobody ever says me." As an example, look at the following questions and see what is the first response that comes to mind.-A poor subordinate blames the _____.-A poor executive blames the _____.-A poor driver blames the _____.-A poor church member blames the _____.Although these thoughts or questions may be natural, they lead us into blame, complaining, and procrastination. Miller's solution is to discipline our thoughts and to look behind our initial questions to come up with better questions-or, as he terms it, the question behind the question (QBQ).

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