Answer Intelligence: Raise Your AQ

So this book will be valuable to anyone who needs to communicate effectively. Several chapters deal with the importance of AQ in specific roles and circumstances. There's a chapter on interview AQ, for example, and AQ as it might be used by doctors. But the author is a management consultant by training, and his insights are likely going to be most valuable to leaders and managers.

Dr Brian Glibkowski is Associate Professor of Management at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. He's also the CEO and Founder of Semplar Science, a consulting firm that applies scientific methods to improve decision making.

So keep listening to hear more about the different types of answers, the five high-AQ practices, and how good answer intelligence can improve your communication.

The book is organized into four parts. The first is an overview of the nature of questions and answers, and introduces the idea of the six answer types at the heart of AQ. It's also an introduction to the five high-AQ practices that generate "elevated" answers.

Part Two examines these high-AQ practices in detail, with a chapter on each. It also offers advice to readers on how to raise their own AQ.

Part Three covers the contexts in which AQ will likely be effective. These chapters are co-authored by executives, subject-matter experts and academics, adding depth to the analysis. It ends with a discussion of how to learn AQ, and ultimately use it in your important conversations.

Part Four seeks to answer the question that's been implicit throughout. Do we need AQ? The author examines existing models of communication and intelligence to make an argument for the distinctive nature and importance of AQ.

So let's dive into the detail.

The central argument of the book is simple. Communication is most effective when you find the right kind of answer to meet the needs of the question you've been asked. So first, you need to uncover a classification of answer types to match different kinds of questions.

In his preface, the author shares an anecdote from his time as a doctoral student. He calls it "The Binder on the Shelf." In answer to a client's request for a process review, the author built an impressive dossier of theory-based answers drawn from academic literature.

But during the feedback session on his work, it quickly became obvious that theory-based answers were not what the client needed. They were seeking directed answers focusing on practice. All the answers were present in the author's work, but they were the wrong kind of answers. So his dossier was destined to become just another binder on the shelf, gathering dust.

Let's take a moment here to think about the different types of questions, as they're the starting point for any answer. With a little prompting, most people can identify six basic, factual question types. These use the words "what," "why," "when," "where," "who," and "how," and they're often called the "WH" questions, because they contain those letters.

The author realized that the types of questions academics and practitioners ask are fundamentally different. Put simply, academics often ask why, while practitioners mostly ask how. This realization led him to develop his classification of answers – and, subsequently, AQ.

Put simply, each type of question needs two particular types of answers. There are six of these answer types, echoing the six WH question types. These are: theory, story, concept, metaphor, procedure, and action.

Let's think about the types of questions usually asked in workplace conversations – why, what and how – and the types of answers most appropriate to them.

According to Glibkowski, questions using "why" require answers involving theory and storytelling. They address what he calls "structural knowledge," the knowledge of how concepts are related.

For example, consider the question, "Why was that negotiation successful?" A good answer would be, "Because we put the client at ease, gave them terms they were happy with, and convinced them to accept our schedule." That's a story of how the negotiation satisfied both parties. It also draws on certain key ideas in the theory of negotiation.

Questions using "how" call for answers using procedure and action. They're associated with performing tasks and achieving results – what the author calls "procedural knowledge." For example, "How do I bake a cake?" needs to be answered with the specifics of procedure, timing and measurement.

"What" questions require different types of answers again. They deal with "declarative knowledge," and they're best answered using concept and metaphor. For example, if you ask a golf instructor to describe the dynamics of a golf swing, he might draw a comparison with something you're more familiar with. A baseball pitch, for example.

When you've understood that certain basic types of answers work well with corresponding question types, you can move on to using them.

As you heard earlier, the author outlines five practices that demonstrate high answer intelligence, and lead to elevated answers.

The first is to be able to provide, or think of, the six answer types in any situation. At the very least, knowing what they are can improve your communication. For example, if a potential client asks a sales executive, "Why should I work with you?" the executive should know that a good answer likely involves storytelling, because the question involves "why."

The second high-AQ practice is to answer twice. This means using both the answer types appropriate to the question. So our sales executive should be able not just to tell a story about his company's strengths, but show that it's a good fit for the client in theory as well as practice. As you may remember, "why" questions are usually best answered with stories and theories.

The third practice is to provide complements. To understand complements, think of the six answer types as equal segments of a circle. You can complement any answer with another answer type adjacent to it on the circle.

Let's say your organization wants to introduce a new procedure. One important question might be, "Why should we change?" The organization may use a story with emotional impact to explain why. But it might also complement that story with a metaphor of change – a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, for example. The metaphor answer type is adjacent to the story answer type on the circle, and reinforces the answer.

Next is the importance of answering in context. Always use an answer type appropriate to the context of the question. If you're asked, "Why should we hire you?" at a job interview, you should be able to tell a story that highlights your strengths, and also shows an understanding of the organization's needs.

And the fifth and final practice is to answer with style. This isn't about polished performance or looking good. It's about the way you answer. There are three answer styles that each appeal to distinct communication goals.

The relational style uses answers to make personal and emotional connections. The practical style uses procedure and action answers to achieve measurable results. And the analytical style explains and predicts outcomes in a complex world.

Part Two of the book expands on each of the five high-AQ practices, and shows readers how to develop their own skills in each area. There's a lot of communication theory and psychology in this part, but the author includes a lot of diagrams to make things easier.

The first five chapters in this part cover the detail of the practices. This demands a significant investment of the reader's time, but it's the theoretical heart of the book.

The founding AQ practice, covered in Chapter Four, is being able to provide, or think of, the six answer types in any given situation. Some answer types will be more appropriate than others, of course, depending on the nature of the question. But being able to apply all six is a key skill, Glibkowski says.

This chapter contains useful self-assessment boxes after each section. These allow the reader to track their progress in understanding and using the various question types. This is a great idea, which we think could have been used elsewhere in the book as well, particularly where the theory is very dense.

Part Two concludes with a chapter summarizing the markers of high AQ. These are both behavioral and cognitive.

There are four behavioral markers. These are accuracy of communication, speed of communication, flexibility in switching between communication styles, and the ability to perform in all those different styles. A high-AQ individual will demonstrate all four markers, and will be much more effective as a result.

Cognitive markers are the increased ease with which someone communicates, and the extent to which they can do so automatically. Communicators with high AQ appear to perform effortlessly, because they have an intuitive grasp of the importance of AQ. It's an interesting take on the mastery of a great presenter – a phenomenon that we'll likely all have seen and probably envied.

Part Three is called "AQ Conversations." It focuses on the uses of AQ in six real-world situations. These are: interviews, sales, coaching, brands, wealth management, and medicine. Interestingly, each chapter is co-authored with one or more subject experts, emphasizing its practical value. They also bring new insights to the problems faced by communicators, and how the best of them can use AQ to improve what they do.

These chapters show the five high-AQ practices being used in the different work situations. Perhaps because it's drawn from real life, this is the most accessible part of the book.

The chapter on medicine is particularly striking, as it approaches conversations between doctors and patients as a form of drama. These exchanges certainly do have the potential for drama, as some are life-and-death situations. Even the physical environment of the consulting room is imagined as a theater. This could come across as a gimmick, but the point is a serious one.

Traditionally, in medical training, questions are more important than answers. For example, a medical student will learn about the process of questioning to make a diagnosis. But no similar weight is placed upon understanding the giving of answers. The point of this chapter is that conversations are often question and answer exchanges, and that both parts of the conversation are equally important.

Part Four is entitled "Do We Need AQ? Yes." It's certainly to the point, and it's where the author rounds up the ideas he's developed throughout the book. In particular, it's where he establishes AQ's claim to be a newly identified model of intelligence and communication.

As he points out, more than half of most managers' time is spent communicating. So it's vital to get it right. The standard model of communication is well known.

A sender sends a message to a responder, who feeds back on it. Every communication is an exchange of questions and answers. That's why it's so important to have a full understanding of the nature of both, and ways to describe both, too.

So what do we think of "Answer Intelligence: Raise Your AQ?"

The book makes some bold claims about the importance of AQ – that it's a new and important addition to the study of intelligence and communication theory, for example. That's a claim that can really only be assessed by professionals in this field, but the author is clearly convinced.

The book is certainly heavy on research and theory, and deals with some weighty concepts. So you might expect it to be pitched at an academic market. But the tone throughout is more accessible than that, and non-expert readers will be able to take a lot from it. Part Three is particularly easy to read, as it benefits from the presence of other expert voices.

Another plus is the book's structure, which means you can use it in the way that best suits you. You don't have to sit and read it from beginning to end, but can pick out key chapters that interest you more than others.

So will we soon be assessing and finessing our AQ, along with our IQ and EQ? As this is the first book written on the topic, only time will tell. In the meantime, though, we can read this book and apply its lessons, to assess their effectiveness for ourselves.

"Answer Intelligence: Raise Your AQ," by Dr Brian Glibkowski, is published by Emerald Publishing.

That's the end of this episode of Mind Tools Book Insights from Emerald Works. Thanks for listening.

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Note: Mind Tools is a product of Emerald Works, which is part of the Emerald Group along with Emerald Publishing, but we only choose books to feature in Book Insights and Expert Interviews that we think are suitable and worthwhile for our audience, irrespective of publisher.