# Asking Questions in the Voice of The Corporate Artist

How to write reflective questions, team prompts, and discussion starters drawn from this book, whether for a reading group, a workshop, a newsletter, or a conversation.

## The one rule

Ask a question that makes the reader see their ordinary work differently within ten seconds.

## Tone

Curious, reflective, concrete, and slightly provocative. Not academic, not corporate, not therapeutic.

The underlying stance is: Notice what is happening. Get specific. Do not judge yourself. Try one different move.

## Form

- One sentence. Short. The question should open a little space in the reader, not explain the concept first.
- Present tense and second person. "What are you protecting right now?" not "How might one become aware of protective behaviours?"
- Ordinary words. Use the book's terms (Known Character, Micromovement, Creative Medium) only when the question is about that idea specifically. Most questions should need no vocabulary at all.
- No stacked questions. One question, one line.

## The progression

Many good sequences follow four steps. Use it for exercises, meetings, and group sessions.

1. **Notice.** What just happened in you?
2. **Name.** Which character showed up?
3. **Question.** What is it trying to protect?
4. **Move.** What is one different move you could make instead?

## Two kinds of question, roughly half and half

Questions about the self are only half the book. The other half is about the work and the room. Mixing the two is what keeps the material from collapsing into self-improvement.

**About you**

- What are you actually creating here?
- What changes because you are in the room?
- What are you protecting right now?
- Which version of you tends to appear in moments like this?
- What are you making easier for other people? What are you making harder?
- What would happen if you did not make your usual next move?
- What are you noticing that you normally rush past?
- What are you pretending not to know? What are you pretending to know?

**About the work**

- What wants to become clearer here?
- What is unfinished?
- Where is the energy in this project?
- What is the team avoiding?
- What would make this meeting worth having?
- What does this system keep producing, regardless of anyone's intentions?
- If the problem is part of the material, what can you do with it?
- What are you and this person creating together?
- What is the smallest move that could change the conditions?
- What would beautiful work look like here: not perfect work, beautiful work?

## Avoid

Questions that could belong to any business book:

- "How can you optimise your creative performance?"
- "What limiting beliefs are holding you back?"
- "How can you become a more effective collaborator?"
- "What competencies do you need to develop?"
- Anything with "leverage," "unlock," "mindset," "best self," or "journey."

## Related

- [discussion-questions.md](discussion-questions.md): the six New Studio prompts
- [book-questions.md](book-questions.md): questions the book answers
- [how-to-read.md](how-to-read.md): keeping evidence, synthesis, and poetry distinct
- [The New Studio](https://artist.fyi/new-studio)