What makes a powerful question?

In my work on Conversational Leadership I am researching and thinking about conversation and a big part of that work is about the power of questions to trigger meaningful conversations.

So the question I have been asking myself is "What makes a powerful question?" And Wes Saade helped me realise that at a high level there is a very simple answer.

There are everyday questions and then there are powerful questions. What is the purpose of a question? Well to solicit an answer of course. If I ask "What time is it?" Someone might tell me "ten past two". I have asked my question and received an answer. But are questions that solicit simple informational answers powerful questions? Clearly not.

So what is different about a powerful question?



There is clearly more to it as Wes explains in his article How to ask powerful questions but this is the key point.