About This Episode
Welcome to today’s communication solution podcast. We love talking about motivational interviewing, and about improving outcomes for individuals, organizations, and the communities that they serve. We have an interesting topic to talk about today: Open Ended Questions and the quality and complexity of what's being talked about.
About This Episode
Open ended questions vs close ended questionsHow do you ask open-ended questions?Reflective listening and empathyMotivations and the quality of curiosityLearning curvesMindsetPerspectivesConnections and valuesReal life examples of differences in questionsSkill buildingAnd so much more!
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The Communication Solution - Open Ended Question
Tammy: Hello, and welcome to the communication solution podcast today. We've got Casey Jackson on the line, John Gilbert, and I'm Tammy here at IFIOC. We love to talk communication. We love to talk motivational interviewing, and we love talking about improving outcomes for individuals, organizations, and the communities that they serve.
Welcome to the conversation.
John: All right. Welcome back everyone. We have interesting topic to talk about today. At least for me, maybe not for everyone, but we'll see how it goes. I know that Tammy, you had particularly wanted to talk about this topic and subject because you were thinking of a situation that just starting at the basics we can talk about. But then I was like, well, we can go deep into this with multiple layers. So, I'm looking to hopefully do that with you Casey and Daniel. Today and just see how far we can get in a shorter podcast we have today. So, Tammy, what was the original kind of thinking you had for this topic? What is it, you were thinking?
Tammy: The original topic was open ended questions, 101. And the reason why is because I think some people get stuck into. A lack of curiosity sometimes because we don't really know what to talk about. And then there's a difference between open ended questions versus close ended questions. You closed ended questions are. Yes, no, you expect a certain specific answer. Open questions, allow for the person to openly share their thoughts and ideas. Opinions could go so many different ways. The more that we can create open ended questions, the more we can hear people's thoughts, ideas, beliefs, all that type of stuff. So that's kind of where my mind was at when I was like, let's do open ended questions.
Casey: Well, what's so funny to me is. I feel myself having a natural bias and a natural writing reflex this topic which I shouldn't it's so weird. And I think because so many people I've heard so much more lately that people are talking about, well, yeah, I went to a motivational interviewing training and it's like, how you ask open ended questions? It's like, oh my gosh, we're drifting so far away from empathy and accurate, reflective listening, but. I know it's my bias because I know I over correct on leaning so heavy into teaching people. What is high, accurate empathy? And the reality is that smart, strategic, evocative eliciting open ended questions are critical.
Skill set to master in motivational interviewing. And I know I overcorrect towards teaching reflective listen. And so, so I'm getting over my bias and listening to that, cause it's just like, oh, I don't want people to think that it's open-ended questions, you can't do motivational without really smart, strategic open-ended questions.
Tammy: Yes. It's part of the equation. And I think that's a really good point, Casey, because reflective listening is critical to motivational interviewing, but there are those times where you need to elicit and draw out from people. Their thoughts, ideas or beliefs too.
Casey: Well, it, just, when you say that, I even think of the MICA, you know, the motivation incompetency assessment.