What a question can do for you.

Questions do not only produce clarity, they also provide direction. In Arthur Freedman and Skip Leonard’s session, Orientation to Action Learning & Coaching, I participated in a demonstration of a team action learning exercise. My role was to present an actual organizational problem to my team. Then through a coach (Skip) facilitated discussion between me and the rest of the team, I walked out of the session with great ideas and possible solutions. Lesson: in an action learning problem solving process it isn’t just what is asked that matters, but also how, when, and whom it is asked. You see, holding back from giving quick answers, asking each other both open-ended and closed questions, and knowing whom to direct the questions to, helped frame our brainstorming/problem solving exercise in a constructive pattern.

In Ambassador Ahmed’s keynote and Q & A sessions, he encouraged us to continue to ask questions about what’s happening in our society, to attain clarity. For instance, when elected government officials say US Muslims are trying to impose Shariah law on the rest of the country, we need to ask ourselves, “how could this be possible?” Even if all Muslims wanted to impose their beliefs on the rest of the country, how is it possible for a group that makes up about 2% of the US population to impose their ways on the other 98%? Questions like these will help us separate facts from fiction.

I couldn’t have chosen a better way to end my first IMI conference than attending Dr. Weaver & Mr. Khan’s session, The Contrast-Culture Simulation: Mr. Khan. It was informative, interactive, and entertaining. Mr. Khan was outstanding in his improvisation, Dr. Weaver was exceptional in his facilitation, and I really appreciate the participants who volunteered as Mr. Smith and Ms. Smith. They did an outstanding job and we wouldn’t have had a great learning session without them.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Gary Weaver and the rest of the IMI team. It was an honor to be an EDF scholar, and your support of our careers is very much appreciated. Thank you! All the best to each of you and IMI.