Socratic

7/4/2021

'Education is not the filling of a pail, but the kindling of a fire.' (Socrates)

Questions that make you think hard. Socrates, a Greek philosopher who specialised in ethics, created a revolutionary method of education based on posing questions rather than prescribing answers. His rigorous and structured approach is still commonly used today to: ‘explore complex ideas; get to the truth of things; open up issues and problems; uncover assumptions; analyse concepts; distinguish what we know from what we do not know; or follow out logical consequences of thought.’ (Paul & Elder).

As such, the Socratic method can be an immensely powerful tool in leadership, coaching, mentoring, training and facilitation (e.g. in action learning). It can elicit profound discoveries and learning and, by doing so, create significant shifts in thinking, feeling and behaviour. It is widely used in psychology-based fields including cognitive behavioural therapy. We see parallels too in domains including Jesus’ teaching approach in the New Testament (see: Conrad Gempf, Jesus Asked, 2003).

Richard Paul and Linda Elder (see: Thinkers’ Guide to Socratic Questioning, 2016) identified 6 different types of Socratic questions that can be posed in sequence to help an individual or a group think through an issue. The 6 types focus on: clarifications; assumptions; rationales; perspectives; implications; meta questions. (James Bowman offers a very useful sample template with examples of related questions here: The Six Types of Socratic Questions).

If you’re interested to read more about cognitive-behavioural approaches to coaching, learning and leadership that draw on Socratic questioning methods, have a glance at: Cognitive Behavioural Coaching; Fresh Thinking; Gestalt Meets Cognitive Behavioural Coaching. If you would like to learn more about eliciting and posing questions more broadly as a learning approach, see: Art of Discovery; In the Question; Good Question; Behind the Question; The Silent Way.

When have you used Socratic questioning at work? How did you do it? What impacts did it have?

18 Comments

Sharon King

7/4/2021 07:14:24 pm

Nick, thank you for bringing attention to this method of questioning. I have used this in my time in FE and it's been transformational. When you ask the meta questions, ie why are we doing this?, for example, it helps to stimulate the students thinking, and fosters engagement with the material. It also has the underlying message of "I respect what you think" and "we are exploring this subject together with curiosity."

Nick Wright

7/4/2021 08:17:21 pm

Thank you, Sharon. Yes, 'Why are we doing this?' is a great question. One of the best descriptions of meta-questions I've seen is by Robin Paige (2016): 'The prefix “meta” identifies a reflexive stance and therefore, a meta-question is one that develops, interrogates, and addresses the core questions of a field, discipline, subject, or topic.' And, in the context of Further Education: 'In the end, a meta question helps instructors and students answer the central question: Why is this class important?' I guess your underlying messages help to answer the question, 'Why are we doing this in this way?'

Gwen Griffith

8/4/2021 08:35:39 am

This is great- thanks for the resources!!
I think I could learn a lot from these!!
Gwen

8/4/2021 08:36:51 am

Thank you for the encouraging response, Gwen. You’re welcome! 😃

Jeff Lycett

8/4/2021 08:39:19 am

I had six honest serving men who taught me all I knew/ There names were why and what and how And when and where and who.

8/4/2021 11:59:53 am

Thanks Jeff. Another '6' that you may be familiar with is Edward de Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats'. Here's a great example of its application to practice: https://uxdesign.cc/creative-problem-solving-with-six-thinking-hats-a5fcd0e04681

Ian Henderson

8/4/2021 11:06:51 am

Really powerful piece Nick. As Tony Robbins might have said, "The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the quality of the questions you ask yourself and others".

8/4/2021 12:07:21 pm

Thanks for your encouraging feedback, Ian. Your quotation reminded me of Socrates', 'The unexamined life is not worth living.' William Anderson (2019) poses an interesting challenge to Socrates' stance: https://schoolworkhelper.net/quote-analysis-the-unexamined-life-is-not-worth-living/ What do you think?

Shelagh Windsor-Richards

8/4/2021 08:01:03 pm

I was quite interested in these questions Nick and at the same time thought some were a little 'pushy'. There's a time and place for most things but I rarely use 'why' and asking someone to back up a statement with evidence would occasionally be very powerful; however, I would not want to recommend this questioning method to an inexperienced coach. Thanks for sharing.

8/4/2021 08:21:59 pm

Hi Shelagh and thank you for posing such a healthy challenge. I don't want to make assumptions: can you say a bit more about your reservations about using 'why' questions, or questions vis a vis 'evidence', as a method for inexperienced coaches?

If I am reading between the lines correctly, you are highlighting the need to establish a trusting relationship, and clear contracting, to ensure that a client doesn't feel, say, judged or pressured to justify themselves - which could provoke defensiveness and/or damage trust?

In my experience of using this kind of approach, the tone of the questions can make a significant difference too. It's one thing to engage in a mutual spirit of inquiry with an agreed purpose and process. It's a very different thing to subject a client to what could feel like an interrogation.

Let me know what you think?

9/4/2021 03:16:52 pm

Morning Nick. Yes, your reading between the lines is an accurate assumption. I guess, taking the inexperienced coach as an example, I would want to rigorously frame the written questions with your explanation of how you pose those question and the reasons for doing so - with examples of when they are powerful and also examples of how they could destroy trust and make the coachee defensive.

Also, discerning the character of the person you are coaching is key. Some thrive on push-back. But I think there are many more types (thinking of Enneagram characters) who would not. So, instead of using 'why', I would say 'tell me more about that' and follow up questions to take us to the same place as why would.

The evidence question is a trigger to me personally so I probably over-react. I do think it is important as we know that clients can be living in a false reality and with gentle determination we can facilitate them into enlightenment. So, again, I would want an inexperienced coach to be taught how to do this sensitively and courageously.

Thanks for making me think this through Nick!

9/4/2021 03:28:54 pm

Hi Shelagh and thank you for such a thoughtful response. Interestingly, 'evidence' can trigger me too (e.g. especially vis a vis 'evidence-base' if superimposed onto dimensions of human experience where it makes no sense to do so). Rather than ask for evidence, I may ask a client e.g. what they have noticed that supports the belief they hold; what others may notice from different parts of a system; or what they are not-noticing that could challenge their belief. I like your emphasis on 'sensitively and courageously'. It sounds like a great mantra for coaching as a whole.

Chaz R.

9/4/2021 09:13:14 am

Yes indeed. The Socratic method is a tool for genuine two way conversations to understand each other. It can also be used in social settings to understand people's points of view better and to be a better listener. Listening is s fine art in itself.

9/4/2021 09:21:48 am

Hi Chaz and thank you for posting such an interesting response. I tend to have seen the Socratic method used as a fairly 1-way process where one person poses questions to another person (or group) to enable the latter to think through an issue more deeply and broadly for themselves. I have, however, seen a similar application to a 2-way process in mediation, where the mediator facilitates a process aimed at helping the two parties understand each other better to reach a mutual solution to an issue. Do you have any examples of the method being used for 2-way conversations that you could share here? I'd be intrigued to hear more!

9/4/2021 03:33:57 pm

Happy to share Nick. Example#1: I'll use the Socratic theme with my own teen at home to better understand their point of view rather than impose the 'dad's house-dad's rules' format of parenting. The win-win benefit to this is that they know they have parents who they can talk to, should they choose to, (which might otherwise have them turning to the bad influences out there for 'support').
Example#2: I'll use the Socratic theme to really try to listen and understand a client's or business partner's point view rather than just going through the motions of paraphrasing. And of course, a mixure of modalities from the therapist's/coach's toolkit can still be called upon but I find the socratic theme used in a two way format to be the best expression of genuine curiosity and willingness to really understand people.
When I was introduced to the Socratic method at grad school at Sydney University years ago my take away from it was ' genuine curiosity to understand a person's point of view.' Not sure if thats what I was meant to take away but thats what I did.

9/4/2021 04:09:17 pm

Thank you, Chaz, for sharing such great examples from personal and work experience. It sounds like you have a great parenting style. It made me smile as I remembered one of my own teens once saying to me, 'Please Dad - don't coach me on this - just tell me what to do!"

I was interested to read your approach based on 'genuine curiosity to understand a person's point of view.' It sounds like you are posing questions so that you can better understand the other person's perspective. That's quite different to how I have used the Socratic method (above).

Thank you for sharing!

10/4/2021 08:33:32 am

Heres a question for coaches/counsellors: Do you believe its the coaching modality or the client relationship thats more effective in a successful outcome? ( Sitting on the fence answers like " it depends, or, a bit of both not accepted🙉).

10/4/2021 09:23:19 am

Hi Chaz. Allow me to answer your question with another question: Which is more important to sustain human life - water or oxygen? (Sitting on the fence answers like " it depends, or, a bit of both not accepted). 🤔

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