Questions that Work

Rating:
Summary: questions you never thought to ask
Review: A lot of work went into this book. You can tell the author interviewed many people in many lines of work to come up with all of these questions. The book received a good review from the ALA which recommended it to their librarians. The book was described as sagacious. When you look it up, that's means it has keen practical sense. We need more books like that. Hope this review helps.

Rating:
Summary: A few nice ideas but too long
Review: Asking questions is an important skill and this book contains some useful ideas and techniques. However, it would benefit from some serious editing as it is far too long and is badly arranged. About 150 pages less would be about right.

Rating:
Summary: From the point of view of the author
Review: I am the author and I hope you will find this book not only enjoyable but extremely useful.

Questions That Work is designed not only to be inspirational but a book that you will reach for regularly as you face many common business situations...including hiring, firing, team building, decision making,and trouble shooting. The book is filled with thousands of focused, specific inquiries from experts, questions that can help speed you through many problems you face each day.

I argue that successful individuals and institutions ask and actively encourage others to ask questions. It is the question and answer process that encourages curiosity, brings about continious learning, and creates satisfaction. I argue that if you don't have the right to ask questions and receive answers in your workplace, you are being robbed of one of your rights as a worker. If you are a manager, you simply can't know everything, so graceful, focused questioning is one of your most important tools for personal success.

I will leave you with one thought..."What is the most important question you need to ask someone today?" If you don't know...you have not adopted the life changing argument of "Questions That Work."

Thank you for considering this author review. I hope you enjoy the book and will let me know what you think of it.

Rating:
Summary: High hopes, but disappointed
Review: I have always been a strong advocate for intelligent questioning, so was excited to see a book devoted to this topic. There were definitely some good points, but overall, I felt like I do after seeing a long movie I was anticipating to be wonderful, but turns out to be a waste of my time...I want my money back!

Rating:
Summary: questions you never thought to ask
Review: I read this book and found it to be extremely useful in a number of applications. In particular if you are looking for a job or career advancement, this book gives you great ideas to help you analyze your own objectives as well as the value that you bring to your company.

I think this book would be of great help to college students as well as they write papers or apply for internships. It helps you isolate what is important and to research appropriately.

I would highly recommend this book. A great read on business trips - gets you thinking.

Rating:
Summary: A Useful Tool and Enjoyable, Insightful Read
Review: I read this book and found it to be extremely useful in a number of applications. In particular if you are looking for a job or career advancement, this book gives you great ideas to help you analyze your own objectives as well as the value that you bring to your company.

I think this book would be of great help to college students as well as they write papers or apply for internships. It helps you isolate what is important and to research appropriately.

I would highly recommend this book. A great read on business trips - gets you thinking.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful! - I recommend this book to my MBA students
Review: Recent research suggests that questioning and listening are important but often neglected skills for MBA students. Therefore this past summer I surveyed the available books on this topic to see if there was a book I could use as a resource for my new course (at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley), which requires the students to do a significant amount of interviewing. I was delighted to discover "Questions that Work." Finlayson's argument is that in this time of constant change we each need to cultivate a "personal questioning network" of people with all sorts of expertise to whom we can go for help. His book is an inspiring and practical how-to guide for the construction of, and graceful and effective use of, such a network. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful! - I recommend this book to my MBA students
Review: Recent research suggests that questioning and listening are important but often neglected skills for MBA students. Therefore this past summer I surveyed the available books on this topic to see if there was a book I could use as a resource for my new course (at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley), which requires the students to do a significant amount of interviewing. I was delighted to discover "Questions that Work." Finlayson's argument is that in this time of constant change we each need to cultivate a "personal questioning network" of people with all sorts of expertise to whom we can go for help. His book is an inspiring and practical how-to guide for the construction of, and graceful and effective use of, such a network. I recommend it highly.