Assumption-Busting Questions That Build Trust (November 2025 TogetHR Times)
Silence Isn't Golden. It's a liability.
As a small business owner or manager, your days are a sprint. You move quickly, make decisions on the fly, and often deliver instructions with clear statements rather than open-ended questions. When you present an idea to your team and the room falls silent, it's easy to breathe a sigh of relief and check that item off your list, assuming everyone is on board.
But for leaders who want to build a high-performing, resilient team, the most dangerous assumption you can make is that silence means agreement.
Silence usually means your team doesn't feel safe enough to challenge you. They may notice a looming problem, spot a huge missed opportunity, or disagree with a new policy, yet they remain quiet. When this happens, you’re not just losing ideas; you're losing trust.
The solution isn't complicated: You need to stop making statements and start asking assumption-busting questions. These are questions designed to force both you and your team to look beyond the surface answer and create the psychological safety necessary for true collaboration.
Your new key metric for success? The willingness to challenge. When your team starts pushing back and offering alternative strategies, you'll know your questions are working.
The Toolkit: 4 Assumption-Busting Questions
To get started, here are four simple, powerful questions—and the detrimental assumptions they are designed to shatter—that you can put to use in your business today.
"What might we be missing?"
Use Case: Strategy & Planning (e.g., launching a new product, hiring a new role, setting annual goals).
Busts the assumption that "We have all the information."
Why It Works: This question moves people away from validating the current plan and explicitly invites them to look for blind spots. It signals that you value perspective over perfection.
"What are some other opinions?"
Use Case: Divergence & Group Conflict (e.g., when a meeting decision feels too fast, or when only the senior person has spoken).
Busts the assumption that "Silence means agreement."
Why It Works: This is the direct antidote to the "Does everyone agree?" trap. It legitimizes disagreement as a necessary part of the discussion and opens the door for the quietest person in the room to speak up.
"What leads you to think so?"
Use Case: Clarification & Challenging Data (e.g., when receiving firm feedback, a strong recommendation, or a worrying conclusion).
Busts the assumption that "The first answer is the whole answer."
Why It Works: It challenges the logic not the person. This question forces the speaker to provide the evidence behind their conclusion, allowing you to partner with them in evaluating the data rather than simply accepting or rejecting their statement.
"Can you give me an example?"
Use Case: Feedback and concept testing (e.g., when an employee says, "Morale is low," or "The process is inefficient").
Busts the assumption that "I already know what you mean."
Why It Works: Abstract concepts are useless for management. This question grounds broad statements in a specific, actionable story. You can't fix "low morale," but you can discuss a specific incident where someone felt unfairly treated.
Reinforce the challenge
Asking a powerful question is only half the battle. Your team took a risk by challenging you, so your immediate reaction must reinforce the psychological safety you just created.
When you get that challenging, tough, or contrary feedback - the pushback that indicates your questions are actually working - you can follow this three-part rule:
Non-Verbal: Keep your posture open (uncrossed arms, direct eye contact). Do not flinch, defend, or sigh.
Verbal: Start with immediate gratitude: "Thank you for sharing that perspective. I genuinely appreciate you raising it." This validates the employee's courage.
Action: Follow up with one of your assumption-busting questions, such as, "What leads you to think so?" or "Can you give me an example?" This shows you're not just listening, but you are actively processing their input.
Stop leading with statements. Start leading with curiosity. Model the behavior you seek. When you reinforce the challenge, you send a clear message: it is safer to tell me the truth than it is to keep me in the dark. This single act turns a moment of potential tension into a foundation for a stronger, more resilient business and transforms a silent room into a trusted, high-performance team.
By John Wright
