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If you’re reading this book, there is a good chance that either your workplace has suggested it or provided it as a resource for you, or you are interested in your own self-development and see this as a resource to enable you to learn new skills or improve your existing skills. Alternatively, you may have attended one of our Better Health & Wellbeing Professionals Ask Better Questions workshops, in which case you will have already heard the key messages in this book, and this is now a resource to enable you to embed the learning, and be reminded of these key messages as you put them into practice.

Whatever the reason, we feel humbled to be able to share some insights and wisdom from our journey of working with some amazing caring professionals, in the hope that there will be something meaningful in the book that enables you to be even better than you are already. We know what a fantastic job people who work in the Health & Wellbeing field do, and what a significant difference they make in the lives of people that they work with. Our intention in writing this book is to honour this and share our passion for asking Better Questions in the hope that it will inspire you to want to use the skill in your professional practice, as this will enable you to make an even bigger difference in people’s lives.

By way of background, in October 2009, Lindsay followed her passion for helping people ask Better Questions, so that others could find better answers, and published her first book THE ANSWER – Improve Your Life by Asking Better Questions. In doing so she shared her wisdom of this amazing life skill with as many people as possible . . . and discussed how to spread the message with several friends.

One of these friends was Heather-Jane, who asked Lindsay to tell her about her first personal experience of asking Better Questions. Lindsay said that it came about when she took on a leadership role in the corporate world, where she felt technically incompetent but had a real interest in turning around underperforming teams. She found it challenging, as she felt unable to fulfil the role in any way other than to ask Better Questions; in doing so, she discovered that questioning more and telling less became quite magical – not only in terms of her own growth, but also in terms of the skills and confidence it facilitated within her team.

As a result of having quite literally ‘fallen in’ to a more questioning approach, Lindsay learnt that this was something that she wanted to explore further, so 11 years ago she left the corporate world to pursue her interest. Since then she’s not only become more practiced in the skill itself, but has also developed an absolute passion for training others, given that she knows how much of a profound difference it makes in the world.

After publishing the first book, Lindsay was chatting to Heather-Jane and told her that she’d received a phone call from a client who worked in health and disability services. They began discussing the patient/client-centred care approach that Heather-Jane had worked on in the UK and the US, with the ‘new’ approach to working with clients being advocated in Australia called the Active Service Model. The shared philosophy of both approaches is to partner with clients rather than to do for clients, to help support them in the achievement of identified goals, and to empower them to make choices about what they want rather than make assumptions or take over the decision-making for them. Specifically, this means supporting more vulnerable elderly clients to remain living more independently in their communities, if that is what they choose to do. As Lindsay and Heather-Jane talked about the potential use of the Better Questions approach, they became very excited about partnering together to help Health & Well-being Professionals assist clients to build capacity and become more engaged, empowered and, ultimately, fulfilled in their lives.

Lindsay developed a pilot training program, which was rolled out initially to about thirty staff, on the basis that she and Heather-Jane would review the results achieved to ascertain if the training was effective and staff felt that they now had more skills to enable them to carry out the new approach in practice. She was overwhelmed by what happened following this pilot program – not only with the success achieved by the professionals using Better Questions, but also by how quickly news of the program’s impact spread. She had to train other people to deliver the program to meet the demand, and has trained thousands of managers, nurses, community health professionals and case managers in the skill of asking Better Questions across Australia.

Lindsay and Heather-Jane have been so impressed by staff working in this sector, who have so willingly taken on board the training and, as a result, have changed their communication approach. Indeed, they’ve both been near to tears when they’ve heard updates from participants who have practiced the skill with profound results. It’s so rewarding to know that people have embraced using the Better Questions approach, which has then benefited their wonderful clients and enabled them to shine.

Lindsay and Heather-Jane continued to meet regularly to discuss progress with the program. They recognise that Clinical Practitioners are trained and, indeed, well qualified with diagnostic questioning . . . yet they remain curious that there is sometimes a ‘disconnect’ when it comes to continuing empowerment – especially in managerial/leadership positions, when role-modelling this approach to others can be so helpful. In discussing this with Heather-Jane, who’s worked in the health and wellbeing field for years, she says that she believes one of the main reasons why people tell and not ask is simply that (in the short term) it’s so much quicker. Health & Wellbeing Professionals (like many others, but particularly in some clinical areas) have very little spare time – and whilst she knows that they have positive intentions to empower clients, it doesn’t always happen in practice; it just becomes too hard. She also recognises that unfortunately this is a limiting belief, which is why she decided to join Lindsay in writing this book.

Lindsay and Heather-Jane cannot promise that the approach they are sharing will be the ‘magic wand’ and that it will work in all situations. However, what they do know is that health systems worldwide are stretched to the limit, extremely burdensome on governments and often very stressful for the people who work in them. In addition, a lot of current practices create dependence, are not respectful and enable a passive approach to looking after one’s own health. The reason Lindsay and Heather-Jane prefer to use the term ‘client’ rather than ‘patient’ is that it is more empowering (just consider the concept of serving clients/customers/guests in hospitals; it’s more than semantics – linguistics can change perceptions, attitudes and, eventually, behaviours/cultures). They’ve also chosen to use the more holistic and empowering term ‘Health & Wellbeing Professionals’ rather than the traditional ‘healthcare’ term, to recognise professionals’ increasing role in health promotion/education (including many wellness practitioners and fitness professionals). They believe that with your skilled application, the philosophy and practices that they share in this book can transform systems and practices to ultimately enable a healthier society, which will be a fabulous outcome.

Thanks for choosing to read this book. Lindsay and Heather-Jane trust that by further improving your current questioning skills, you’ll be inspired to support and enable your clients by taking a more person-centred and empowered approach with them – which inevitably will lead to better outcomes for all. Through asking Better Questions there is a greater sense of truly making a difference in the world, which then supports the reasons you’re probably working in this sector in the first place! They trust that you will recognise that whilst this book is written in the context of your professional role, you’ll also realise the importance of being a Better Questioner in any aspect of life. Indeed, everyone we interact with has far more potential than they realise, and having more skill to release the full potential of others is wonderful.

Notes

I.All the books in the ‘Better Questions’ series have been written to appeal to specific sectors and markets, with the language, examples and scenarios tailored to meet the needs of, and relate to, the readers in each sector. However, it should be noted that the core messages and the Better Questions communication model are the same throughout the series.

II.As we’ve stressed above, we have used the word ‘client’ throughout the book, albeit that in some contexts the word ‘patient’ may feel more appropriate, depending upon your setting.

III.We want to be respectful and acknowledge that depending upon your background and role, there may have been an opportunity for you to be trained in questioning and listening skills already. Whilst this may lead you to think that the content of this book may have limited use, we invite you to be open minded in that we truly believe that the art and skill of being a Better questioner is a journey and not a destination. With reflection, we can continue to build on our communication skills throughout our lives.

IV.The messages in this book apply across all roles in all Health & Wellbeing Professions, including Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Midwives, Health Visitors, Occupational Therapists, Mental Health Professionals, Social Workers, Case Managers, Psychologists, Pharmacists, Chiropractors, Osteopaths, Physiotherapists, Counsellors, Myotherapists, Nutritionists, Podiatrists, Speech Therapists, Dieticians, Nutritionists, Naturopaths, Medical Herbalists, Health Educators, Personal Trainers . . . and all the other health and wellbeing roles there are in the world – it would take too long to list them all . . .