A1: Meetings
Use when: Opening, steering, or closing any group discussion or decision.
The questions
- What would make this meeting a win for us?
- What are we deciding now, and what's explicitly still open?
- Do we have everyone in the room needed to make the decision at hand?
- What problem are we solving today, in one sentence?
- What facts do we already know, and what are we assuming?
- What's the most important constraint we have to respect?
- Whose perspective could we be missing that would improve this decision?
- What would change our mind or update our view on this?
- Can you walk us through your reasoning and the trade-offs you see?
- Let me reflect what I'm hearing. What did I get right, and what did I miss?
Field note
Dan's rule: postpone the meeting until every stakeholder who owns the decision can be in the room.
Research basis
Brooks and John 2018; Coleman 2022; Edmondson 1999; Brodrick 2024
Get the full field guide
The complete PDF covers 24 situations, 153 questions, and the four listening moves (reflect, summarize, validate, clarify). Download The Questions Leaders Ask field guide.
Workshop
Want your leaders practicing these out loud, with their team in the room? See how Kestryl Edge workshops work.