Research: How Curveball Questions Can Surface the Insight You're Looking For
Conventional advice says to ask tough questions to get past rehearsed answers. This research finds that unexpected questions grounded in the specific context outperform generic hard-hitting ones, because rehearsed material simply doesn't apply to them. The effect holds across interviews, performance conversations and negotiations.
Why it matters
Read at Harvard Business Review A rare instance of the analytical-thinking and judgment cluster being operationalised into something practisable: swapping one prepared hard question for one specific, unexpected one is a cheap and immediately testable upgrade to any information-gathering conversation.
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