Artificial intelligence is an amazing tool, if you know how to ask the right questions. Garbage in yields garbage out. The reality is, it is the same with Human Intelligence; the ability to acquire, understand and apply knowledge, solve problems, think critically, and make decisions. Maybe as leaders we need to spend more of our time in honing our skills in developing human intelligence.

It was 11 at night in the spring of 2021, and I was getting ready to turn out the lights after a long day at a manufacturing site. I was exhausted. And then the phone rang. It was my oldest son, a sophomore computer science major at the University of Delaware. He was completely distraught. He had been working on code for an app for the past few hours and he kept getting errors when he compiled it. It would not work. He needed help.

I was confused as to why he called me. I don’t even know what an app is, and I have never written ‘code’ in my life. I wanted to solve his problem and, more importantly, I wanted to go to bed. So, I asked him, “Do you want me to get your father?” (My husband is a computer analyst and has written successful code for many applications in numerous businesses; he’s the expert.) My son emphatically said “No!” I then asked him, “Well, who can you go to that can help you with the issue? Your professor? A TA?” He indicated that although these were possibilities, the assignment was due that night. It was at this point that I realized that I was trying to help him find a solution as opposed to supporting him through the learning process.

As we all know, it is not the destination but the journey that counts. But it has to be their journey. It’s not a journey if you are being dragged along.

I began asking questions. “Can you tell me a little more about your project?” He explained that it was a group project and they were trying to develop an app for a local nursery to assist clients with selecting plants for landscape design. He was the unofficial team lead, managing the project and supporting his teammates as technical problems arose.

As he described the project and all the hard work he had put into it, I could feel his frustration and pride, his desire to do well and not let his team down. I acknowledged his excitement about the project and what the team had accomplished so far. I let him know that I could imagine the stress and frustration he must be feeling with this recent challenge.

Then I said, “Can you give me a little more detail about what it is you are trying to accomplish?” He specifically explained his objective. I listened intently and empathized with him even though I had no understanding of what he was talking about. I asked him to explain to me in detail what he had done so far and what happened when he took those steps. He explained the error codes he was getting and I asked him what they meant. I then asked him, “What do you think you could do differently?” He paused, for more than a second, and I could almost hear the gears turning inside his head.

And then, I could tell, by the change in the tone of his voice, that he got an idea.

He explained what he could do, and I could hear him on the other end of the phone typing away. I listened intently and waited patiently as he tried different things. It was imperative that I allowed him to move at his own pace without feeling pressured. (At one point, it was taking so long that I went on Amazon to do some shopping for the upcoming holiday. I do not recommend this if you are in person; however, he had no idea what I was doing and I figured I could be productive as well.) As I engaged with him, I had him explain his thinking and challenged his assumptions, and I had him explain the steps he took and the outcomes of those actions.

After about 45 minutes and a few iterations of dialogue and trials, he proudly announced, “OK, I got it!” He explained what he was doing wrong. He thanked me profusely for helping him. As we were saying goodnight, the only thought that kept going through my mind was what the heck did I just do? Throughout the entire conversation, and to this day, I cannot explain what the problem was and what he did to fix it. But I do remember what I did, and what I learned from it.

As I reflect back on this conversation, my first question is why did my son call me?

Although I don’t have the exact answer to this question, I would like to believe that it is because we have a good relationship, and he knew I would listen to him. He knew I would be there for him, and I would challenge him. He knew that of the eight billion people on the planet, I would probably be in the top 10 for not being able to give him a solution. It is safe to assume that he was probably not looking for an answer. He knows I am a pretty good listener, and I can be effective at coaching to promote reflection and learning. In addition, he has helped me teach the People-centric Leadership class, and maybe he was looking for someone who would support him in a people-centric way.

Let’s be clear, it would have been so much easier and faster to have had an answer and to have been able to give it to him. He was frustrated, but he was interested in learning – and what he needed was my time. Since I did not have an answer, I resorted to what I believe is at the core of People-centric Leadership, supporting people in self-evaluating and solving their own problems. This builds relationships and engages the mind; it builds Human Intelligence. I was introduced to this approach in 1997 by my friend and colleague. It was developed by Dr. William Glasser (a chemical engineer turned psychiatrist) in the 1960s and is referred to as Reality Therapy. To those of us in Lean and Continuous Improvement (CI), it is basically problem solving. It is also the premise of most coaching models I have seen. It consists of the following questions, and it is what I resorted to (in desperation) in the conversation with my son:

• What do you want?
• What are you doing to get what you want?
• How is it working?
• What could you do differently?
• What is your plan?
• When can I follow-up?

(If you are familiar with Toyota Kata, you may be thinking, ‘hey…. those are the Kata Coaching Questions.’ The first time I saw Mike Rother introduce Toyota Kata at a conference in 2010, I ran out of the room and called my colleague to tell her that a presenter was teaching Reality Therapy!)

The conversation with my son was much more than just the scripted questions, although they formed the framework or standard that helped to guide me in helping him. The effectiveness of the questions depends on the relationship and the environment in which they are used. I had to approach the situation with humility and curiosity. The humility part was not hard at all since I was pretty much ignorant to the task at hand; however, the curiosity was a little bit of work. (Does anyone really care what that error code means?) I had to want to know the answer to the questions I was asking.

The relationship that we had was also a critical component; he had to trust me and know that I had his best interests in mind. He could be vulnerable with me, and I was not going to judge him, something he might not have found with his TA or professor. I also had to listen. Not to solve the problem or offer advice, but to reflect back what he was saying so he could find clarity and to empathize with what he was feeling. Although it might seem strange that empathy is such an important aspect of solving a technical problem, it actually is. He was feeling frustration; it was painful. By listening and empathizing with him, I provided an outlet for these emotions. This allowed his brain function to shift to the cerebral cortex (the portion of the brain responsible for higher level processes such as learning and critical thinking) since it was no longer being hijacked by the limbic system (often referred to as the emotional center of the brain).

As the conversation progressed, I was in a continuous state of self-reflection. How did the question I just asked help him to think more deeply about the problem? How could I phrase it differently? The questions that I learned as Reality Therapy (or you might think of as Kata, or coaching or problem solving) achieve their maximum impact when combined with trusting relationships, humility and curiosity, listening and empathizing, and continuous reflection.

The power of this approach is achieved when it becomes our natural response in any situation, whether we are innovating, collaborating, solving a problem, addressing a challenge, or giving or getting feedback. It can be used to cultivate a productive conversation in lieu of an ‘effective’ confrontation.

The challenge is: it is actually not that easy. It goes against our natural tendencies. We all want to solve problems, give advice, answer peoples’ questions. It takes restraint and most importantly a willingness to learn, to help others learn by learning ourselves. At 11 at night, that was the last thing that I wanted to do.

Some people think that it is hard to help someone solve a problem when you are not an expert, but maybe it is harder to help someone solve a problem when you are or think that you are an expert. If you know the answer, why not just give it to them? Don’t get me wrong, in some situations this might be the best course of action, but probably not in most. Giving someone an answer is easy, but it doesn’t make them think. It does not promote learning or critical thinking. And, your answer might not be the right answer or the best answer. Finally, if you see yourself as the source of truth, it is difficult to be open to learning.

Most organizations use a fraction of the brilliant talent and brainpower that exists in their organizations. As we transition into this age of Artificial Intelligence and embrace the power that it holds, maybe we also need to harness the power of Human Intelligence that is right in front of us. While AI systems have surpassed humans in specific tasks, such as processing large datasets and performing complex calculations with speed and accuracy, they still lack the general cognitive abilities inherent to human intelligence. Humans excel in rapidly adapting to new scenarios, applying prior knowledge in unfamiliar situations, and understanding context in a way that current AI cannot fully replicate. So, I leave you with one final question: What are you doing to improve your skills to build Human Intelligence in your organization?

NOTE: This article was generated entirely using Human Intelligence. Many thanks to the human brains that contributed to this article.