Rigorous thinking starts by eliminating this question

See the original post on rigorous thinking.

We don’t need more people who can only follow directions. We need leaders who can survive ambiguity—then pave the way by asserting what to do.

Here’s a reframe:

Instead of saying “What do you want me to do?”

Say, “I would like to do this and here’s why it makes sense. Does this sound good to you?”

This reframe will help you get buy-in 10x faster. Why? Because we humans don’t like to think. We have too much going on and are trying to keep it together.

So when an empathetic, trustworthy, and sharp leader (that’s you) takes the lead and suggests what we should do... We breathe a sigh of relief.

Eliminate “What do you want me to do?”—and all versions of this passive question—from your vocabulary. You’re better than that, and everyone around you is waiting to hear what you recommend and why.