QBQ!: The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life

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But here is the catch - accountability starts internally. You cannot force it on others, but rather model it in yourself. In my professional role as a Manager of Organizational Development, I am often asked "How do we hold our employees accountable?" While you can manage well, and facilitate appropriate consequences, accountability is an internal way of viewing the world around you. It must be grown internally.

From the bestselling author of QBQ! The Question Behind the Question comes a workbook to help you on your journey to embrace personal accountability. Some situations prove to have barriers that seem insurmountable. Often we find ourselves focusing only on these problems and our limitations, rather than what we can change. By asking questions with “I” in them, we shift the focus from what we can’t improve, to what we can. Once we do that, our situation seems so much better. Lesson 3: To master the QBQ, ask questions that focus on action. When a light switch is flipped the flow of energy that is released reaches the lightbulb in an instant, bringing it to life. Similarly, asking the right kind of question-a QBQ-is the first step to empowering what Miller calls the Advantage Principles-five essential practices that will lead to a richer experience in every aspect of life: While those are questions they really fall into a victimhood stance of things happening to you. There is nothing proactive in those statements, nothing that you are doing to fix these issues. Some better questions would be: Like many business books, this book can be summarized on a postcard: Take more personal responsibility for the problems you encounter. Don't ask questions that blame other people, or express frustration (e.g., "Why is this happening to me?") Instead, ask the "Question Behind the Question (QBQ) (e.g., "How can I improve this?").

There are two types of questions. The wrong ones that lead to inaction and pain are called IQ’s, or “Incorrect Questions.” These are the questions like “why me?” that come up after something goes wrong. In contrast, the Question Behind the Question (QBQ) is “behind” those initial negative thoughts we might have when a difficulty arises. Learning to ask the QBQ will help you successfully navigate any hardship. Leadership has nothing to do with our title, position, tenure, or "span of control" and everything to do with the way we think. By bringing responsibility, ownership, and action to life, the QBQ helps each of us think-and act-like a leader. My first thought was Hire this man! Talk about going the extra mile! He was clearly not your average employee. And the more I thought about the outstanding thing he’d just done, the more I wanted to talk to him. So as soon as I could get his attention, I waved him over.

If so, the QBQ! message of personal accountability is right for your organization—and maybe even for you, too. The first QBQ guideline says all QBQs begin with “What” or “How,” not “Why,”“When,” or “Who.” Take another look at the “Why?” questions at the beginning of the chapter and consider what would happen if we asked these instead: This book was introduced to me from my employer who brought in John's daughter to introduce us to the QBQ! method.

Success!

The final few years of our dance partnership (we only stopped because we started a family) were the best of our career. My dancing was never better, but even more importantly, our partnership was never better. Funny how that works. This book was required reading at a large retail department store chain, where I worked,when it was taken over by new management. "QBQ" became our new mantra and managers were constantly hounding us to answer the "Question Behind the Question." It's certainly light reading and not much of a challenge intellectually; it does make suggestions that encourage excellent customer service - there is nothing wrong with that, but...the overall premise, that there are no limits to providing such service, is questionable. I believe in civility and respect when dealing with customers, helping them with their needs and making the process as satisfactory as possible, but I also believe that stopping at nothing to give the customer what he/she wants is the best way to create a monster. Customers become arrogant,rude, crazy with power and an attitude that they are entitled to satisfaction at any cost (a cost not to borne by them of course); once you give them what they want, they want - no demand - more. Sorry, I'm going off on a tangent here, but I think books that espouse philosophies such as this book does are actually dangerous. Blame and "whodunit" questions solve nothing. They create fear, destroy creativity and build walls. Instead of brainstorming and working together to get things done, we blame-storm and accomplish nothing. There's not a chance we'll reach our full potential until we stop blaming each other and start practicing personal accountability. In his bestselling book QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, John G. Miller revealed how personal accountability helps to create opportunity, overcome obstacles, and achieve goals by eliminating blame, complaining, and procrastination. The result? Stronger organizations, more dynamic teams, and healthier relationships.

So it's these five principles-Learning, Ownership, Creativity, Service, and Trust-that give us a tremendous advantage in our lives, but not without practicing personal accountability. And the QBQ helps us do just that. The good news is this: That moment of frustration also presents us with a tremendous opportunity to contribute, and the QBQ can help us take advantage of it. The moment the IQs pop into our heads, we have a choice. We can either accept them— Yeah, when are we going to get more help around here?!—or reject them, choosing instead to ask better, more accountable questions such as “What can I do to make a difference?” and “How can I support the team?” The definition of the QBQ: To better understand the meaning and power of the QBQ, let's start by defining it. Then we will briefly explore key words contained within the definition. It is no small wonder that John G. Miller's books sells in quantity - as soon as you finish reading it, you realize the power behind the subtle shift in how you view the world - and now, everyone you know can benefit from this understanding too! Once you read this book, you will want to buy a copy for every one you know.Everyone seems to agree on the need for personal accountability, but no one knows what to do about it. The QBQ solves that problem by enabling us to transform our desire for accountability into real, lasting change.