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60 of 65 found the following review helpful:
 Small book, big impact Dec 06, 2004
By Meryl K. Evans
"Content Maven behind meryl.net"
After reading a few pages, I'm hooked. This book takes about an hour to read and has a lifelong impact. The title implies exploring other questions based on the original question. However, the real story is about personal accountability in work and life.
Rather than doing what comes naturally for many of us and becoming defensive and pointing fingers, the book changes your mode of thinking from "It's his fault" to "How can I fix this?" For example, in a restaurant, a diner is waiting for his waiter to come to the table. He catches the attention of a waiter who says, "This isn't my table" and walks off. The diner can only hope the waiter went to alert the person who is responsible for his table.
A waiter who uses QBQ thinking would help the diner rather than dodging the table just because it's not his table. Such action has positive results on both the waiter and the customer.
In another story, a cashier pays for the customer's under $3 purchase as her register didn't have enough to provide change. This action resulted in the store getting 100 percent of the customer's business.
The book grabbed me and I applied QBQ thinking the day after reading it. It feels much better to take the QBQ route instead of responding defensively. Check the QBQ site for more examples and details (http://www.qbq.com).
34 of 35 found the following review helpful:
Another great simple book with high impact Aug 18, 2005
By T SANTOSO
This book was recommended to me by a new friend Rini from BP, and i love it. I read it just in a two hours flight ( i am not a fast reader!), finishing it right when the plane landed, and i kind of feel very motivated and enpowered!
In the simple similar tradition of One Minute Manager, Fish, and other simple to read business book, this one has one great idea about how we should ask questions.
In a nutshell:
1. Begin with "WHAT" or "HOW", and not "Why", "When, or "Who".
2. Contain an "I"
3. Focus on Action.
So, instead of: " When are we going to be more competitive?", use: " What can i do today to be more effective?".
Or, instead of " Who will care as much as I do?", use "How can I communicate better?"
QBQ is a simple powerful technique that will improve the way you see life. John Miller has a whole organisation build into training it.
Even that the way they write is way different, i would like to compare the idea of QBQ as such similar power with One Minute Manager. It's easy to teach, easy to implement, and have great return if people start using it.
So, for 2 hours easy reading that might change your life for the better, you have nothing to lose, get a copy.
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Includes some useful tools for success Nov 06, 2002
By Michael Knudstrup
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". If you ask the right question you can make positive moves toward achievement and a rewarding life. The book concludes with a list of lousy questions and the better QBQ's or questions behind the questions. A brief sample follows. The sales department:
"When are we going to get some new products?"
"Why can't we get better customer service support?"
QBQ's:
"How can I add value for my customers?" The management:
"Why aren't my workers more motivated?"
"Why do they keep making the same mistakes?"
QBQ's:
"What can I do to help them do their job better?" To summarize, "The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability in Business and Life" presents some basic, yet powerful ideas about creating a more rewarding and fulfilling life.
31 of 39 found the following review helpful:
 Expensive for what you get May 17, 2004
I read the entire book (super large print) in about an hour. It had some points of interest. (I bought this off Amazon based on the recommendations). But unless you're the type who'll go into a restaurant and put down $80 for a salad, move on. The whole book could be boiled down to one of those laminated placards leaving enough room left over for VCR programming instructions :). I'd say its worth $2 - $4. Sorry I can't recommend an alternative. On the more positive side, as I said it wasn't a COMPLETE waste of time but any 2 - 3 page article in a magazine would do as much. Not even, imho, a good Cliff notes type thing for those who just want to talk the talk. To paraphrase "Less Filling, More cost"
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Easy & Effective! May 08, 2001
GREAT book! QBQ (the question behind the question) isn't a blame book, or a self-flagellation book either! As irritating as work can be at times, when blow-ups occur, this book gives you the tools to work thru these headaches, and dismiss the whining that can accompany tough situations. Similar in speed and impact to 'Who Moved My Cheese?' this book will stick with you long after you pass it on. And remember pass it on because you like it, not because you think others need it!
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