TJL #65: Ask validating questions (Daily productivity #40)

Productivity tips that work for me and might work for you

Jan 29, 2021

Daily productivity #40

Ask validating questions.

Richard Feynman - today's icon (1/1/2020) - Silviu Tolu

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself -- and you are the easiest person to fool.” — Richard Feynman

One of the most important skills you can have as a problem solver is to ask validating questions. Validating questions are questions that make sure that what you think is correct. They validate how you see the world and how you see the problem, instead of how the problem-describer sees the world, and there is often a big invisible gap.

This is especially important if you are solving a problem for someone else. Before you can solve the problem you must be clear about what exactly the problem is.

Here are some phrases I like to use:

“Just to validate…”
“So if I understand correctly…”
“Just so I can get a better understanding of …”

Not asking validating questions can lead you to waste a lot of time solving the wrong problem. Asking validating questions is important because communication is hard and this puts you on common ground. Start asking validating questions!

Previous TJLs

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