Happy New Year! What’s exciting you as this new year begins?
Many people greet other by asking perfunctory questions, such as, “How’s it going?” or “What’s happening?” These questions aren’t very interesting and people tend to respond automatically, such as, “not much” or “same as usual.”
Boring, huh?
Why not change it up by changing your greeting for the next few weeks? For example,
What’s exciting you now?
What is the new year inspiring what you do next?
What are you looking forward to most in 2024?
The questions you ask will shape what follows in the year ahead. You will wake up others by asking more stimulating questions. Most people will respond more energetically to unexpected questions.
If you ask something that stimulates, people will tend to think before they respond. When people get used to more arousing questions, they will contribute more unique answers.
As significant as someone’s direct answer is the conversation that follows. More discussion will be forthcoming and even unexpected, interesting ideas may be spawned.
Try this in your team meetings in the next couple of weeks. You may be surprised by what follows.
Finally, changing your greeting will also change you. You will be more energetic, and you will likely experience more creativity as a result.
Header image by Chicka_Milan/Adobe Stock.
