This post uses a set of questions, called “User Manual for Me“, by Cassie Robinson. (ht Mike Watson @herdimmunity)

Cassie’s idea is that answering a set of questions about how you prefer to work and interact with people lets people can help you work together better. In an ideal world, you’d know more about people around you, and they’d know more about you.

These questions seem ideal for framing as clean interviewing questions, with following clean questions that can help the client get deeper knowledge of themselves. They can choose to share these insights with colleagues of not.

In this post I answer these questions for myself, and then suggest contextually clean following questions that could be asked.

 

Warning Required?

I’ve had a mixed reaction when talking to friends and colleagues about Cassie’s questions, which all came down to safety. If you’re in a team and everyone wants to do this it would be great. If there is anything like hostility this soft of thing in the team then it’s not something people seem happy about. If you’re in charge, don’t force this on anyone.

Warnings aside, if you’re in a good team, or want to know this to share with a few colleagues then these questions are excellent in helping others understand you.

In this post I’ve suggested contextually clean versions of the questions, and contextually clean follow ups questions to my answers.

What are Contextually Clean Questions?

Clean Interviewing is a way of asking purposeful questions that contain a minimum amount of the questioners thoughts, ideas, opinions and suggestions. These questions are contextually clean.

Clean Interviewing allows the client to express their understanding with the minimum influence from the questioner, and can lead to unexpected insights.

More information is on the Clean Language Wikipedia page which has been recently updated by James Lawley.

The contextually clean versions of the questions pretty much wrote themselves. Cassie’s heading were pretty clean already. I’ve added some contextually clean follow-up questions to my own answers in green, as an example of how the User Manual questions could be followed up with contextually clean questions.

My Answers and some potential follow-up questions

Contextually Clean follow-up questions in green.

Conditions I like to work in.

(Contextually Clean Question: What are the conditions you like to work in?)

I need variety. I get ideas by talking to people and hearing their ideas and perspectives. The conversations don’t need to start with the goal of having an idea. I like face to face interaction.

Is there anything else about the ideas from face to face interaction?

If I’m reading detailed information, or doing technical problem solving then I work best alone, but I need to get feedback on my work if I’m not making progress. I can stubbornly bang my head against a problem for far too long. It’s effective, but perhaps not always efficient.

(There is already a contextually clean question about feedback later.)

I need to read and annotate paper copies. I don’t read or understand well off a screen. Sorry trees.

I move around to get unstuck, or if I’ve got something to think about. I work well on the move.

Are some ways of moving better than others?

Is there anything else about getting unstuck?

The times/hours I like to work

(Contextually Clean Question: What are the times and hours you like to work?)

I start thinking early, when I wake up. I re-run what I learned the day before, and plan for the day before getting out of bed. Cycling to work is time when I work through problems, so I arrive primed. I then really like to make progress. Meetings and major task switching here can really stop progress for the day.

What happens when you re-run what you learned the day before?

Is there anything else that needs to happen before you’re primed?

After lunch I’m better at discussing ideas and meetings, unless I already shared the ideas I had in the morning. Mid afternoon I get a second window to work well on technical problems.

Is there anything that needs to happen before the second window to work on technical problems.

I read and write well in the mornings and evening, from 9.30 till about 11.15pm.

If something is difficult and interesting enough I’ll be mentally working on it all the time…

What makes something interesting enough for you to be mentally working on it all the time?

The best way to communicate with me

(Contextually Clean Question: What way of communication is best for you?)

I like communication to be in person, followed by a written overview of any actions I have. I work best if I understand your purpose, and goals. I’ll figure out the best way I can help you reach them.

How do you like someone to express their purpose and goals?

How would you figure out the best way to help?

I’ll also tell you if I can’t make sense of your purpose and goals. I’m good at juggling multiple perspectives, so I like these perspectives to be in the open.

The ways I like to receive feedback

(Contextually Clean Question: How do you like to receive feedback?)

I like feedback to be quick, and to include context. Face to face feedback is best, as I can misunderstand written feedback easily.

I like feedback to focus on what I did, and ideally to  suggest areas for improvement, without being prescriptive. I’m continually increasing my understanding of how I work and learn. I need feedback for this.

Things I need

(Contextually Clean Question: What do you need to be at your best?)

I need to understand purpose. I’m not the best at following a process, without understanding why. I may need someone to listen if I have an idea for improving a process too. That’s what I’m good at.

Where do your ideas for improving a process come from?

I need to be trust to do the right thing. I sometimes express an idea that doesn’t seem to follow from the facts. I need people to ask me to fill in the gaps in my thinking and explanation.

Where do the ‘gaps’ in your thinking and explanation come from?

I need something to be curious about.

What’s that curiosity like?

I need reminders for things I may have forgotten, and for people to ask how it’s going.

Things I struggle with

(Contextually Clean Question: What do you find difficult? I think the difficult is cleaner than struggle..)

I struggle following a process, and using ‘we just followed the process’ as an excuse when we knew there were problems.

When following a process, what would you like to have happen?

I struggle with making sense of dense text when a diagram would work better. I may miss an important point if it’s hidden in lots of unimportant text.

My short term memory is almost non existent. it’s not a reflection on my intelligence.

Things I love

(Contextually Clean Question: What things do you love?)

I love

• a challenge
• designing and building things that other people find useful
• learning and making useful connections between ideas
• The ‘aha’ moment when something clicks
• bullet points
• helping people with the things above, and solving their problems

What happens before you build something people find useful?

Other things to know about me

(What would you like people to know about you?)

I need to draw something to explain it to you. Even if there is a perfectly good drawing in front of me, I need to draw it again while talking.

I like ideas. I can sometimes be a bit enthusiastic. I like to talk.

I can often quickly analyse a situation, and figure out a course of action, or the events that led up it. I can think this much quicker than I can articulate why. I quickly model situations, and run accurate scenarios against them.

Extra Question Suggestion

How I learn things

(Contextually Clean Questions: How do you learn things?)

I learn things best when they extend something I already know. It’s like a need a hook to hang new information on. I also need to learn the principles, context, and any constraints to the information or tools I’m using. When I learn things I’ll remember them by understanding the principles and context, rather than the facts and process.

How do you get hooks to hang new information on?

I’ll learn something new by relating it to the information I already have, and any similarity of context, patterns or constraints.

 

I hope to ask these questions with friends and colleagues soon.  Know Yourself is a popular phrase in philosophy and I think Cassie’s questions, followed up with Clean Interviewing questions is a great way to start knowing.