The power of presupposition

Questions have the power to affect our beliefs and thus what we consider possible or impossible. As we learned in Chapter 4, asking penetrating questions can weaken the reference legs of disempowering beliefs, enabling us to dismantle them and replace them with more empowering ones. But did you realize that the specific words we select and the very order of the words that we use in a question can cause us to not even consider certain things while taking others for granted? This is known as the power of presupposition, something of which you should be very aware.

Presuppositions program us to accept things that may or may not be true, and they can be used on us by others, or even, subconsciously, by ourselves. For example, if you ask yourself a question like " Why do I always sabotage myself? " after something ends disappointingly, you set yourself up for more of the same and set in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy. Why? Because, as we've already said, your brain will obediently come up with an answer for anything you ask of it. You'll take for granted that you've sabotaged things because you're focusing on why you do it, not on whether you do it.

One example occurred during the 1988 presidential election, just after George Bush had announced Dan Quayle as his running mate. A television news organization conducted a nationwide poll, asking people to call a 900 number to answer the question, " Does it bother you that Dan Quayle used his family's influence to go into the National Guard and stay out of Vietnam? " The glaring presupposition built into this question, of course, was that Quayle had indeed used his family's influence to unfair advantage—something that had never been proven. Yet people responded to it as if it were a given. They never questioned it, and just automatically accepted it. Worse, many people called to say that they were extremely upset about this fact. No such fact was ever substantiated!

Unfortunately, this process happens all too often; we do it to ourselves and to others all the time. Don't fall into the trap of accepting someone else's or your own disempowering presuppositions. Find references to back up new beliefs that empower you.

3. Questions change the resources available to us. I arrived at a critical juncture in my life about five years ago when I came home from a grueling schedule on the road to discover that one of my business associates had embezzled a quarter of a million dollars and run my company $758, 000 into debt. The questions I failed to ask when I first hired this man had brought me to this point, and now my destiny hinged on the new questions I would ask. All of my advisors informed me that I had only one choice: I'd have to declare bankruptcy. They immediately started asking questions like " What should we sell off first? Who will tell the employees? " But I refused to accept defeat. I resolved that, whatever it took, I would find a way to keep my company going. I'm still in business today not because of the great advice I got from those around me, but because I asked a better question: " How can I turn this around? "

Then I asked an even more inspirational question: " How can I turn my company around, take it to the next level and cause it to have even more impact than it ever has in the past? " I knew that if I asked a better question, I'd get a better answer.

At first, I didn't get the answer I wanted. Initially, it was, " There is no way to turn it around, " but I kept asking with intensity and expectation. 1 expanded my question to " How can I add even more value, and help more people even while I sleep? How can I reach people in a way that is not limited to my physical presence? " With these questions came the idea of my franchise operation in which more people could represent me across the country. Out of these same questions, a year later I came up with the idea of producing a television infomercial, an answer that I received from that same burning question.

Since that time, we have created and distributed over 7 million tapes worldwide. Because I asked a question with intensity, I got an answer that's helped me develop relationships with people all over the world whom I would never have otherwise had a chance to meet, know, or touch in any way.

In the realm of business, especially, questions do open up new worlds and give us access to resources we might not otherwise realize we have available. At Ford Motor Company, retired president Donald Petersen was known for his persistent questions: " What do you think? How can your job be improved? " On one occasion, Petersen asked a question that undoubtedly steered Ford's profitability up the road of success. He asked designer Jack Telnack, " Do you like the cars you are designing? " Telnack replied, " Actually, no, I don't." And then Petersen asked him the critical question: " Why don't you ignore management and design a car you'd love to own? "

The designer took the president at his word and went to work on the 1983 Ford Thunderbird, a car that inspired the later models of Taurus and Sable. By 1987, under the direction of master questioner Petersen, Ford had surpassed General Motors in profitability, and today Taurus ranks as one of the finest cars made. Donald Petersen is a great example of someone who really utilized the incredible power of questions. With one simple question, he completely changed the destiny of Ford Motor Company. You and I have that same power at our disposal every moment of the day. At any moment, the questions that we ask ourselves can shape our perception of who we are, what we're capable of, and what we're willing to do to achieve our dreams. Learning to consciously control the questions you ask will take you further to achieving your ultimate destiny than almost anything I know. Often our resources are limited only by the questions we ask ourselves.

One important thing to remember is that our beliefs affect the questions we'll even consider. Many people would never have asked the question " How can I turn things around? " simply because everyone around them had told them it was impossible. They would feel it was a waste of their time and energy. Be careful not to ask limited questions, or you'll receive limited answers. The only thing that limits your questions is your belief about what's possible. A core belief that has shaped my personal and professional destiny is that if I continue to ask any question, I will receive an answer. All we need to do is to create a better question, and we'll get a better answer. A metaphor I sometimes use is that life is just a Jeopardy! game; all the answers are there—all you have to do is come up with the right questions to win.