QBQ! the Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
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About this audiobook
The lack of personal accountability is a problem that has resulted in an epidemic of blame, victim- thinking, complaining, and procrastination. No organization-or individual-can successfully compete in the marketplace, achieve goals and objectives, provide outstanding service, engage in exceptional teamwork, or develop people without personal accountability.
John G. Miller believes the troubles that plague organizations cannot be solved by pointing fingers and blaming others. Rather, the real solutions are found when each of us recognizes the power of personal accountability. In QBQ! The Question Behind the Question®, Miller explains how negative, ill-focused questions like "Why do we have to go through all this change?" and "Who dropped the ball?" represent a lack of personal accountability. Conversely, when we ask better questions-QBQs-such as "What can I do to contribute?" or "How can I help solve the problem?" our lives and our organizations are transformed.
THE QBQ! PROMISE
This remarkable and timely book provides a practical method for putting personal accountability into daily actions, with astonishing results: problems are solved, internal barriers come down, service improves, teams thrive, and people adapt to change more quickly. QBQ! is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to learn, grow, and change. Using this tool, each of us can add tremendous worth to our organizations and to our lives by eliminating blame, victim-thinking, and procrastination.
QBQ! has helped countless readers practice personal accountability at work and at home. This version features a new foreword, revisions and new material throughout, and a section of FAQs that the author has received over the years.
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Reviews for QBQ! the Question Behind the Question
158 ratings20 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I didn't find anything new in The Question Behind the Question. Which is "what can I do" instead of "what are they going to do"?I've been around too long. This might be helpful to someone who hasn't been exposed to a personal productivity method.Thankfully, it's short.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good concept. easy to understand and motivating. enjoyed listening. Highly recommened.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5??a book full of perspective changing questions and tips; makes reflect on one's attitudes towards change. a must read for anyone feeling stressed due to today's ambiguous and rapidly changing corporate environment.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is an exceptional book. It should be required reading for everyone but especially for students, teachers, coaches, managers, executives, and anyone looking to improve.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5excellent book, very good advice, streight to the point, easy to understand
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I keep listening to this book over and over again. It has such valuable, applicable practices that if organizations adapted the QBQ to all employers I believe there would be far less drama and emotional expenses. Excellent book and highly recommended.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Short, sweet and to the point. There aren't any wasted words in this one. The concept is simple but hard for ME to remember sometimes. It can never be mastered but we should wake up every day asking ourselves, "how can I master personal accountability?"
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You can't change anyone but you! :)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Simple, straight forward and clear, this book is a great guide for understanding the personal accountability.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My manager just gave this to all the new hires to read.
I liked it a lot, and I think it will help me actually ask better questions. The anecdotal style made it a quick read, and kept it interesting.1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great resource for every business owner and employee of personal accountability.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Immediately practical and easy to implement. I will listen to it again.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How can I make things better? Not why? or when? or who? !!!!!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I was given this book as a part of a Dave Ramsey seminar. A short and easy read, the book is full of great ideas and self awareness thoughts. Made me re-think how I addressed problems both in my work and personal life. Just finished refreshing myself with the concept again I would highly recommend this book.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Truly godawful. Firmly in the school of "take a single decent but common-sense idea and develop it into a pseudo-religious doctrine, then beat it over your reader's head over the course of 100+ large-print pages." Miller is not a particularly good writer, technically speaking, but he has a remarkable capacity for sounding like a complete and utter tool. A common thread in the stories he presents as examples are customer service workers being rewarded for paying for things out of their own pockets, for dubious reward (one such parable has the employee rewarded with a substantial tip, which she smarmily contributes to the "employee pizza fund" because it is against the policy of the big box retailer that employs her to accept tips.)That said, Miller's fundamental point - that the fastest, best way to get something done is to take responsibility for it oneself - is valid and probably worth saying. But when he devotes a chapter to what's wrong with the question "why?" ("leads to victim thinking...") it just really makes me dislike him and his book. Not recommended.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Culture of my new departmentThis is like most corporate books – a very quick read. Even at 140 pages you definitely can read it over your lunch hour.The concept is pretty simple and I have to admit had I read this prior to leaving my last role I might still be there…glad this book waited until I was here. My biggest take away was that you cannot change those others so ask the questions that will help you to determine what you can do to help yourself.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I like to collect books I've read as a sort of "badge of honor". But, they usually end up collecting dust after the first read. However, QBQ is different. I was amazed the first time I read it because, yes, it contains some "common sense" concepts, but they're presented in such an articulate and entertaining way that they really send the points home. So many stories simply make me smile.I felt a profound change in my demeanor and attitude after reading this book because it really made me examine the way I thought and interacted with others. And every 6 to 12 months or so, I'll start feeling like I'm blaming others for things more than I should. I'll pick up QBQ and read a few chapters (or just the whole thing again!) and will feel "refreshed".I love one thing John wrote about in the middle of the book too regarding "there's probably someone you're thinking about who should read this book" (paraphrasing). It was true! Although I know it helps me, there are certain people I interact with who would benefit from it greatly! In all honesty, anyone and everyone can benefit from this. Plus, it's so affordable and such a quick, entertaining read, how can you not afford to own it?Lastly, I'd like to plug the QBQ Twitter feed and e-mail subscription. The QBQ concept is laid out beautifully in this book, but John sends out occasional e-mail stories exemplifying the QBQ mentality. It's a great way to keep QBQ fresh and alive. Great stuff!
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Previous reviewers here on LibraryThing got this one right. Miller takes a commonsense idea -- that of personal accountability - and proceeds to go way over the top with it. While some of the underlying concepts may have some validity, this comes across as a diatribe against workers who have legitimate concerns and complaints, who (according to these philosophies) should just accept their lot in life and not question or show concern about idiocy foisted on them from farther up the food chain.Sorry...but in addition to espousing philosophy that is sophomorically simplified, and using supposedly real-life examples to support the arguments which are patently unrealistic, the physical production itself of this book is something of an affront. Blandly and smarmily written, the size of the font used in the book, combined with egregious amounts of white space, create a work that is truly a tree-killer.Can't recommend this one at all!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A nice little business book about accountability. Very short, it can be read in one sitting, it does offer many nice soundbites managers can use.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A book on personal responsibility. And a good one at that. It shows you how to take charge and not wait on others.