In one line: Listening to truly understand others’ thinking and feelings, assuming their ideas may beat yours.
Part of the Relationships cluster of the Engineering Leadership Capabilities.
What it means
Inquiry is curiosity directed at people. It means asking before telling, listening past the first answer, and staying genuinely open to being wrong, which is how leaders find information they would otherwise never get.
What it looks like
- Running a customer interview without pitching
- Asking a junior engineer how they would solve it first
- Seeking out the dissenting view before a decision