Starting Up Your Own Self Detective Agency
Part 6 - Questions

Where would detectives be without a few good questions and a notepad up their sleeve? The same goes for SDs, too. The skill is to find out the best questions to ask yourself, so we strongly recommend that you take out of your toolkit any questions that start with the word ‘why’.

Why? Because ‘why’ is often seen as a threatening, accusing or judgmental type of question – and the answers you get are often defensive and wary.

Imagine how you might respond to the following questions: (and imagine trying to answer the questions without the word ‘because’…)

Q: “Why didn’t you tidy up?”
Q: “Why did you say that?”
Q: “Why did you spend your money on those things?”

If you find you are asking yourself lots of ‘why’ questions, you might want to change the wording. “Why can’t I do that?” becomes “Which part of that am I struggling with?” or “How might I do that?”, or indeed “What do I need to be able to do that?” Or perhaps there is no need for a question, when a simple statement will do: “I can’t do that… I will do something else instead.”

Snooping questions can be a good place to start for a self detective. They can be by turns playful, informative and intriguing. While it’s unlikely that they are going to get you to any deep places or unearth any hidden gems, they can be stepping stones to a more advanced enquiry.
Snoop away…

Q: Which Mr Man or Little Miss might you be?

Q: What is your favourite thing to do at home?

Q: What is your favourite food?

Q: What is your favourite smell?

Q: What is your favourite film?