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The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

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Page 1: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions

Karen N. JohnsonTest Bash 2015

Page 2: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

KAREN N. JOHNSON

• New position in 2015. Director of Mobile Quality at Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.

• Published Author (Beautiful Testing) • Teach Software Testing• Speak at conferences• Co-founder of WREST, the Workshop on Regulated Software

Testing• Website: www.karennicolejohnson.com or www.karennjohnson.com

• Twitter: @karennjohnson

Page 3: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

What is the purpose of this talk?

Page 4: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“The scientist is not a person

who gives the right answers,

he's one who asks the right

questions.”

- Claude Lévi-Strauss

Page 5: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

What do I think are the two

most important elements

of asking a question?

Page 6: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Timing

When you ask a question can impact what you get for a response.

Where you ask a question, can impact what you get for a response. The where you ask a question, factors into timing.

You can ask the right person the right question but ask at the “wrong” time.

Timing matters.

Page 7: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“The right thing at the

wrong time is the wrong

thing.”

- Joshua Harris

Page 8: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Tone

How you ask a question can impact what you get for a response.

You can ask the right person the right question at the right time but ask in a tone that can affect not just the response but your ongoing relationship with the person.

Tone matters.

Page 9: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“We often refuse to accept an

idea merely because the tone

of voice in which it has been

expressed

is unsympathetic to us.”

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Page 10: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“Humble Inquiry is the fine art of drawing someone out, of asking questions to which you do not already know the answer, of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person.”

Page 11: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“The best scientists and explorers

have the attributes of kids! They ask

questions and have a sense of

wonder. They have curiosity, “Who,

what, where, why, when and how!

They never stop asking questions, and

I never stop asking questions, just like

a five year old.” - Sylvia Earle

Page 12: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The journalist’s six basic questions.

A short look at the basic journalism questions.

Page 13: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Who?

Find the right source for information.

Page 14: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

What?

Ask questions of substance.

Page 15: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Where?

Find a good location for a discussion.

Page 16: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

When?

Timing matters.

Page 17: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Why?

Know what you want to learn from your questions.

Page 18: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

How?

The tone of how you ask a question influences the outcome.

Page 19: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

"What people think of as the

moment of discovery is really the

discovery of the question."

- Jonas Salk

Page 20: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Five Whys

The concept of using the five whys is that by persisting to ask why, the underlying issue, the cause of the issue will be discovered. Harvard Business Review has a great short video that explains this.

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmrAkHafwHI

Page 21: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

THE FIVE WHYS

• Harvard Business Review, http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/04/the-five-whys-for-startups/

• Harvard Business Review, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmrAkHafwHI

Page 22: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Phoenix Checklist

The Phoenix checklist is a list of questions developed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. The list is comprised of questions arranged in two sections: the problem and the solution. The questions are meant to help an investigator ask questions. The questions are intentionally context-free.

Page 23: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

THE PHOENIX CHECKLIST

• Malbon, Ben. Blog: How the CIA define problems and plan solutions: The Phoenix Checklist http://bbh-labs.com/how-the-cia-define-problems-plan-solutions-the-phoenix-checklist/

• Tinkham, Andy, blog post: Context-free questions http://testerthoughts.com/2003/07/16/context-free-questions/

• Strazzere, Joe, blog post: http://www.allthingsquality.com/2010/04/phoenix-checklist.html

• Lambert, Rob blog post: http://thesocialtester.co.uk/professional-skeptics-dispeller-of-illusions-and-questioner/ and http://thesocialtester.co.uk/the-phoenix-checklist-mind-map/

• Kaner, Cem and Bach, James Black Box Software Testing Special Edition www.testingeducation.org/k04/documents/specBased.ppt

• Bolton, Michael blog: Context-free Questions for Testing. http://www.developsense.com/blog/2010/11/context-free-questions-for-testing/

Page 24: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Socratic Method

The “teacher,” orleader of the dialogue, asks probing questions in aneffort to expose the values and beliefs which frameand support the thoughts and statements of theparticipants in the inquiry.

- Source: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/Newsletter/socratic_method.pdf

Page 25: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Paper Chase

In a well-known movie, The Paper Chase, a scene between a student and professor demonstrates the Socratic Method.

While the Socratic Method may be a favored method of questioning for knowledge. • Intimidation• Fear• Being put on the spotAre some of the negative reactions to using the method.

Page 26: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

SOCRATIC METHOD

• The Paper Chase, YouTube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx22TyCge7w

• Socratic Method applied to teaching: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/Newsletter/socratic_method.pdf

• Socratic teaching and critical thinking: http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/socratic-teaching/606

• Socratic method and scientific method compared, http://www.niu.edu/~jdye/method.html

Page 27: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Roadblocksto asking questions and to getting answers

Page 28: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Not everyone shares

In the book, “Questions That Work” the author Andrew Finlayson claims there are question killers.

“Question killers can also stifle curiosity and openness with obtuse or bureaucratic answers.”

Page 29: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Relying on only one source for information

Sometimes, you might ask the wrong person for information.

Page 30: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Fear & Intimidation

"He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever." - Chinese proverb

*

“It can be intimidating to ask questions. Sometimes you have to be humble and yet brave to ask questions.”- Karen N. Johnson

Page 31: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“And I like asking questions, to

keep learning; people with big

egos might not want to look

unsure.”

- Heston Blumenthal

Page 32: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Not doing your homework

Don’t expect people to tell you everything, instead learn as much as you can ahead of asking questions.

Page 33: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

A Few Tips on Asking Questions

Page 34: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Set a ConstructiveAtmosphere

Create the right atmosphere to ask questions.

The “right” atmosphere won’t just be the location but the mood and tone of the conversation.

Page 35: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“Creating the right questioning atmosphere means adapting your presentation to the situation and the other’s personality.”

Page 36: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Learn DifferentTypes of Questions

There are many types of questions: open-ended, rhetorical, leading – learning about questions is a worthwhile “self schooling.”

Page 37: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Give people the tools and space to give visual answers

Some people think more visually. Asking visual people to explain the inner workings of software without having tools to draw can be frustrating for the person.

Page 38: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Allow answers to come in the form of a story

Some people answer questions best when they can tell a story, walk you through an entire process instead of having a Q&A session. Give the person answering the ability to answer in the format that works for them.

Page 39: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Don’t get lost

It’s ok to let the other person lead but at intervals, review your questions and notes and make sure your questions get answered.

Page 40: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Look for spontaneous pickup of information at unexpected moments

Realize you may pickup some information “on the fly.” Be ready and be open to it.

Page 41: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“I love the early process of

asking questions about a story

and deciding which questions

matter most.” - Diane Sawyer

Page 42: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Collect the artifacts of investigation

Gather together the information, including your notes from interviews and see what you have.

Page 43: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Separate facts from opinions

Journalists are taught early on to distinguish between fact and fiction. Sometimes you can receive the wrong information or conflicting information and you have to be able to discern those gaps and misleading of information.

Page 44: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Make Sense of what you’ve gathered

You may need to mentally reassemble what you have gathered and even mentally reformulate what you believed or understood as information is gathered, consumed and understood.

Page 45: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Can you walk me through the process of the software?

I like this question because:

• It gives the other person space to answer in a variety of formats, including drawing.

• It assumes little.

• It is an open-ended question.

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Page 46: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Can you tell me what you’re most concerned about with this application?

I like this question because:

• It gets to the heart of risk. • It gives a developer the chance to open up about

where coding may have been challenging.• It gives a developer an opportunity to discuss what

has been minimally tested or is minimally working.• It enables product owners to articulate their

concerns which I can turn into test ideas and follow-up.

• It speaks directly to high-level executives who want their concerns heard and addressed.

Page 47: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“Humble Inquiry is the fine art of drawing someone out, of asking questions to which you do not already know the answer, of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person.”

Page 48: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“Creating the right questioning atmosphere means adapting your presentation to the situation and the other’s personality.”

Page 49: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“… the talking, listening, thinking, analyzing, selecting and editing segments that all good interviewers incorporate, whether they realize it or not.”

Page 50: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

"Judge a man by his questions rather

than his answers."

– Voltaire

Page 51: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

“Maybe some of the best

questions we ask, are the

questions we ask ourselves, the

internal questions, the ones that

keep us exploring.”

- Karen N. Johnson

Page 52: The Art of Asking Questions Karen N. Johnson Test Bash 2015 The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

The Art of Asking Questions © Karen N. Johnson, 2015

Questions?