The One Question That Changes Every Conversation

If I could give leaders one question to use in every important conversation, it would be this:

“What else?”

Not complicated. Not clever. But remarkably powerful.

Here’s why: the first answer in any conversation is almost never the real answer. It’s the safe answer. The rehearsed one. The one that sits at the surface.

I see this pattern constantly. A leader tells me they’re struggling with a “communication issue.” I ask what else is going on. Pause. It’s actually a trust issue with a peer. I ask what else.

Longer pause. It’s actually that they’re not sure they want the role they just stepped into.

Three layers deep. That’s where the real conversation lives. And “what else?” is how you get there.

It works in every context:

• A team member shares a concern about a project. Ask “what else are you worried about?” The first concern was tactical. The second is the one keeping them up at night.

• You’re making a strategic decision. Ask “what else could we consider?” Suddenly there are options no one would have surfaced.

• A direct report says everything’s fine. Ask “what else?” The silence that follows tells you everything.

“What else” works because it:

• Signals that you’re not in a hurry

• Communicates that you want the full picture

• Creates permission to go deeper

• Prevents you from solving the wrong problem

The presenting issue is rarely the real issue. “What else?” is how you find the real one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txjKdF7CIzE

Try it this week. Ask it twice in every important conversation. See what surfaces.