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These postings are provided as is with no warranties, and confers no rights. Additionally, views expressed herein are my own and not those of my employer, Microsoft. View Pradeep U.N.'s profile on LinkedIn
Which is tougher: Precision Questioning or answering?

Vervago's PQA - Precision Questioning and Answering training is an artful application of science to get to the root of complex issues through simple questioning - where the rule is to respond to the unambiguous thoughtful question in a word, number or worst case - 1 sentence. This was one of the really cool training sessions I attended in Feb.

Ambiguous questions or "umbrella" questions require paragraph answers which offer no solution or action items. Precision questioning helps get to the root of all that.

Takeaways from this were:

a) All execs at MS are PQ-trained or atleast talk that way in a deep-dive/review.

b) PQ-ing is absolutely required to breakdown complex problems that are multifaceted.

c) PQ requires a lot of practise and can be intimidating.

d) Cultural issues can ruin PQ. where a one qn one answer style is just downright rude!

Ofcourse one of the major issues with this is the inability of most ppl to follow precision answering and not going beyond the one word, one number (or related) and atmost one answering style of Precision answering that drives a successful PQA discussion.

Reason? PQA is about solving the problem without personal attachments. It is that simple. Highly recommend the training to anyone who has a chance to take it.

Published Thursday, April 06, 2006 1:26 PM by Pradeep U.N.

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# re: Which is tougher: Precision Questioning or answering? @ Tuesday, April 11, 2006 1:16 PM

Great training. Had it few years ago.

Not sure everyone uses it correctly though. I think some abuse it as a way to purely show superiority. I think it's a great management tool, don't get me wrong. But it should be used in a way that shows some level of mentoring and expectation setting for future meetings/presentations and not just solely, "You got it wrong, NEXT!"

Bob Keller

# re: Which is tougher: Precision Questioning or answering? @ Thursday, June 15, 2006 2:15 PM

I think PA is tougher.

People in the PA role must be comfortable with making their reasoning process explicit so that others can evaluate and confirm the validity of their claims. Trusting relationships, thick skins and ego strength are necessary conditions. Without these, our defense mechanisms are likely to activate and interfere with our ability to formulate PAs.

In my view, PQA is a great antidote to the problem of ambiguous and judgmental language. Someone who claims "You got it wrong, NEXT" is making a judgmental claim that should be PQ'd. If they are a true practitioner, they should be willing to assume the PA role so that others may evaluate and confirm the validity of their claim.  

Dave Lymburner

# re: Which is tougher: Precision Questioning or answering? @ Thursday, June 15, 2006 11:14 PM

Some additional observations on PA...

When transactions involve people from different levels of the org chart, it is rare to see the person who is higher on the org. chart assume the PA role. Typically, the person lower on the org chart is expected to assume the PA role. Not sure if that is a good thing.

I've also noticed that the PA role is not readily accepted by those who are responsible for creating and sustaining policy or process problems. It seems defense mechanisms get in the way in these scenarios.

Dave Lymburner

# Leading Trump Pradeep U N amp his Blog about Nothing Which is | patio umbrella @ Wednesday, June 17, 2009 11:56 PM

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Leading Trump Pradeep U N amp his Blog about Nothing Which is | patio umbrella

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