QBQ Summary – May 2022

Author: John G. Miller

Short Summary
QBQ! (2001) is all about learning to ask better questions to stay accountable and improve every aspect of your life. In the book, you’ll learn why asking better questions is so important, and how it can help you achieve your goals. You’ll also find out how to create a personal action plan for putting the QBQ! principles into practice in your own life.
qbq summary
Source: amazon.com

Detailed Summary

The book is divided into three sections: How Asking Better Questions Can Change Your Life, Staying Accountable to Yourself and Others, and Putting It All Together – Living the QBQ! Way In the first section, “How Asking Better Questions Can Change Your Life”, Miller tells us how he was transformed by learning to ask better questions. He had always been a go-getter with a strong work ethic but he realized that his life wasn’t quite where he wanted it to be. After attending a seminar led by an inspirational speaker, he learned that asking better questions was the key to moving forward in life.

He began to ask himself questions like “What can I do differently?” and “What would my ideal life look like? These simple yet powerful questions changed his outlook on life and helped him take steps toward achieving his goals. In the second section, “Staying Accountable to Yourself and Others”, Miller discusses the importance of accountability. He explains that when we are accountable, we are taking responsibility for our actions and choices. We are also more likely to follow through on our commitments and reach our goals which we are going to discuss in QBQ! summary.

QBQ Summary Key Points

In the QBQ! John Miller provides readers with a life-changing tool that is the Q-B-Q. The Q-B-Q stands for Question Behind the Question and it is a simple yet effective way to change the way you think about personal accountability. Let’s discuss the important key points in this QBQ! summary, the author wants us to understand through his book.

Key Point 1: Why questions tend to elicit defensive responses, while “what” and “how” questions can help draw people out and encourage them to share more information

In the business world, and life, we are constantly faced with obstacles. It is how we deal with these obstacles that define us as individuals. Do we let them get the best of us or do we find a way to overcome them? The key to overcoming any obstacle is to ask better questions. When we face an obstacle, our natural tendency is to ask “why me?” This is a victim mentality and will only lead to more frustration.

Instead, we should be asking “what can I do to fix this?” This puts the power back in our hands and allows us to take control of the situation. Another question we should be asking ourselves is “what can I learn from this?” Every situation, whether good or bad, offers an opportunity for learning and growth. By asking this question, we open ourselves up to new possibilities and opportunities. The final question we should ask ourselves is “who can I help with this?” We are all here on this earth to help others. When we focus on helping others, instead of ourselves, it not only makes their lives better but ours as well. Doing so will help you to focus on the facts of the situation and avoid getting bogged down in unnecessary details. For example, rather than asking “who was responsible for the mistake?” ask “what caused the mistake?” By focusing on what happened, you can avoid finger-pointing and instead work together to come up with a solution.

Key Point 2: When you ask yourself questions that include “I,” you force yourself to become accountable for your actions

Including “I” in your questions allows you to become more aware of your surroundings and take accountability for your actions. This way of thinking can help you see beyond your current situation and find solutions to problems that may have seemed impossible before. When you focus on what you can change, rather than what you can’t, it’s amazing how much better things seem. Including “I” in your questions allows you to focus on what you can change, rather than what you can’t. This creates a situation where you are much more likely to find success.

When you make yourself accountable, you force yourself to find solutions instead of dwelling on the problem. This is one of the most important lessons we can learn in life – that we are responsible for our happiness and success. No one else can fix our problems or make us happy; we have to do that ourselves. When we take responsibility for our lives, we open up a world of possibilities. We become empowered to create our destiny. No longer are we victims of circumstance, but masters of our fate. This is the true meaning of freedom – being accountable for your own life. So ask yourself, “What can I do to improve my situation?” And then go out and do it.

Key Point 3: The QBQ is a powerful tool that can help us take control of our lives and focus on what we can do to make the situation better

When we take action, even if it leads to mistakes, we learn and grow. If we don’t take action, we stagnate and atrophy. Therefore, it’s important to ask questions that focus on action. What can I do to achieve this goal? What steps do I need to take to reach my target? How can I make this happen? Asking these types of questions helps us identify what actions we need to take to achieve our goals. It also allows us to troubleshoot any potential problems along the way. Asking QBQs is a powerful tool that can help us overcome obstacles and move closer to o our desired outcomes.

The QBQ is not about looking back with 20/20 hindsight and asking, “What should I have done?” That question puts us in a position of being a victim—of circumstance, other people, or ourselves. It also keeps us focused on the past rather than the present or future.

QBQ Review

QBQ! book was written by John G. Miller and it is a self-help book about personal accountability.  The title stands for “the question behind the question”, which is a technique to help you reframe your questions more positively and productively. I found the book to be helpful in terms of giving me some new techniques to think about my own personal accountability. I also appreciated the author’s candidness about his struggles with this issue.  If you’re looking for a way to take charge of your life and achieve your goals, QBQ! summary or book is a great place to start.

To Whom do we Recommend The QBQ Summary?

  • Anyone who wants to become more proactive and accountable.
  • Anyone looking to improve their life or their business.
  • Anyone who wants to reframe the questions more positively.

About The Author

John G. Miller is an American writer and speaker who is best known for his book QBQ! The Question Behind the Question. In it, he advocates a personal accountability approach to life and work, based on the idea that each individual is ultimately responsible for their actions and results. Miller has been writing and speaking about personal accountability for over 25 years, and his work has been featured in major publications such as Forbes, Time, Inc., Entrepreneur, and Success Magazine.