I devised the system and iterated it with Joel. It was originally inspired by the "toyota way" but i've just read up on the socractic method which is very much like what we did. It's all about getting to the root cause of a problem and finding a way to eliminate it. The key thing is the discovery has to come from the person being questioned.

Hope that helps?

How would you rephrase your question so that your suggestion of Socratic Questioning isn't pushed into the answer?

eg: I'm curious about your method, could you give me an example or two of a prodding question?

To be honest our method sounds similar to the socratic method.

A simple example would be:

Person A: I have to fire my new employee, i dont feel i can do it

Person B:

- Why do you need to fire him? - Can someone else do it? - What would happen if you didn't? - Is it the method of firing, the person, or you?

etc etc

But obviously the questions adapt based on the responses.

Does that help? Happy to explain further via email or on skype if you like. Contact details in profile