BOOK REVIEW
The Business Bulletin
The Socratic way of questioning How to use Socrates’ method to discover the truth and argue wisely (critical thinking & logic mastery). With the sheer volume of information,
think that I have always questioned
are all quite critical in our thinking
we have these days sometimes I find
things and for those that know me, I
and so were happy to find ways to
it overwhelming, knowing what and
do love a good debate! Since training
hone some of the skills we have
who to believe and where to go to
as a coach, I use this natural tendency
already gained. More than the
find an absolute answer. I have always
to ask challenging questions while
questions themselves I think it is
considered myself to be curious, I am
being aware of my own bias. And all
important to be open to being asked
fascinated by the why of things often
those questions without listening well
questions and challenged on our
much more than the how. I like to
would be a waste of time.
thinking. We have perhaps become
For book club we wanted to explore some methodologies for critical thinking and as Socrates is considered to be the “father” of modern psychology I figured there would be something to learned from his methods. I came across this little book
Mhairi Richardson Tomrom Team Coaching Mhairi specialises in coaching teams to help them achieve more and improve their wellbeing. Her focus is on building trust within the team and a combination of coaching, mentoring and facilitation and she can tailor the
which proved to be very informative. The first couple of chapters deal with understanding the need for and the value of Socratic questioning and this section does feel a little heavy however it is important to understand the underlying principles of Socratic questioning. As a plus, each chapter
program to the needs of your business.
has a handy summary that helps you
She enjoys working with newly formed
to recap and ultimately retain more
teams, established team or teams who just feel they should be achieving more. Mhairi is also a coach with a strong SME background, a focus on the detail, a high level of emotional intelligence and a strong desire to develop talent and grow high performing teams. 07970 002129 mhairi.richardson@tomrom.co.uk
of the method. The later chapters deal much more with the practical elements including
the concept that we might not have all the right answers. I see this so often in leadership as the leader feels they need to know all the answers, when in fact the great leaders know they can learn from others. However, if you were to ask me “what would I get out of this book?” then I think I would have to say that in a world where we have so much information at our finger tips, we could all do with thinking a little more critically and using the Socratic questioning method will really help you to achieve that. Here are 5 all-purpose questions directly from the book to help you improve your thinking! ■ How can I see this with fresh eyes? ■ What might I be assuming?
■ The power of the pregnant pause
■ Am I rushing to judgement?
■ Identifying the hidden agenda
■ What am I missing?
■ Questioning assumptions
■ What matters most?
■ Understanding viewpoints
tomrom.co.uk
Interestingly I felt that as a group we
46 | Issue 20
a little too defensive and not open to
Thanks for reading and if you want to read the book it’s here
