Beyond Answers: The Power of Effective Questioning

Intro:
With generative AI overload, one skill stands out as the key to unlocking knowledge and understanding: the ability to ask the right question. We often underestimate the significance of asking the right questions, assuming that the answers lie solely in the answers themselves. However, an experiment I recently conducted aimed to shed light on the crucial role of effective questioning and the impact it can have on learning and problem-solving.

How - to:

1. Split the audience into two group and provide a simple coding challenge. Have one group with pure technical experience
2. Timebox and allow the two groups to come up with solution. The group were allowed to use any tool (including Large Language Model like BRAD / chatGPT)
3. Collectively review the output
4. Discussion: Reflect on the significance of the results and their implications. Explore the broader implications of asking the right questions in various contexts, such as education, problem-solving, and decision-makin
5. Conclusion: Summarize the key takeaways from the experiment. Emphasize the importance of developing questioning skills and offer suggestions for how readers can improve their ability to ask the right questions.

Learning Lab:
Challenge was to create a SQL stored procedure to update a order table by assigning priority based on the order value

OrderDetailID	OrderID	ProductID	Quantity
1	10248	11	12
2	10248	42	10
3	10248	72	5
4	10249	14	9
5	10249	51	40

Group 1 Outcome:
The non technical group leveraged chatGPT with the below prompt

can you write a procedure to flag if the order is greater than 30 then log "Big Customer Order" if the value is between 10 and 30 "Medium Order " and if the order value is less than 10 then "Low priority order"

CREATE PROCEDURE FlagOrderPriority
    @OrderID INT,
    @OrderValue DECIMAL(10, 2)
AS
BEGIN
    SET NOCOUNT ON;

    DECLARE @Priority VARCHAR(20);

    IF @OrderValue > 30
        SET @Priority = 'Big Customer Order';
    ELSE IF @OrderValue >= 10 AND @OrderValue <= 30
        SET @Priority = 'Medium Order';
    ELSE
        SET @Priority = 'Low priority order';

    -- Log the order priority
    INSERT INTO OrderLog (OrderID, Priority)
    VALUES (@OrderID, @Priority);
END;

Group 2 outcome:
The group 2 had experienced software engineers and the prompt was slightly better
Use a CASE statement and create a stored procedure to flag the order priority as 1) "Big Customer Order" if Order value >30;if the value is between 10 and 30 "Medium Order " and if the order value < 10 then "Low priority order"

CREATE PROCEDURE FlagOrderPriority
    @OrderID INT,
    @OrderValue DECIMAL(10, 2)
AS
BEGIN
    SET NOCOUNT ON;

    DECLARE @Priority VARCHAR(20);

    SET @Priority = CASE
        WHEN @OrderValue > 30 THEN 'Big Customer Order'
        WHEN @OrderValue >= 10 AND @OrderValue <= 30 THEN 'Medium Order'
        ELSE 'Low priority order'
    END;

    -- Log the order priority
    INSERT INTO OrderLog (OrderID, Priority)
    VALUES (@OrderID, @Priority);
END;

Reflections:

As a group the recommendation was to leverage CASE statement

Conclusion:
As I conclude this experiment, the group found profound appreciation for the importance of asking the right question.
Mastering the art of asking the right question is a skill that often comes hand in hand with experience on the job. As we navigate through various challenges and complexities in our professional journeys, we begin to recognize the nuances and subtleties that shape effective inquiry. It is a skill that goes beyond simply seeking answers; it is a mindset that embraces curiosity, critical thinking, and the relentless pursuit of understanding.

AI will not replace you, but the person using AI will

Further Reads:
Prompt Engineering

Sample Voting Question