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Advancing Human Judgment in an AI World
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Question Intelligence™
A human performance capability for the AI era.
Better performance starts with better questions.
AI makes answers easier to produce. Leaders still need to determine what problems they're actually solving, what to trust, and how to bring out the best thinking and performance in their people.
We develop Question Intelligence™, the human capability leaders and organizations need for stronger judgment, better decisions, and high performance in the AI era.
For leaders and the people who help them lead better.
Powered by Question Thinking™
Dr. Marilee AdamsOriginator of Question Thinking™ and Question Intelligence™
Trusted by leaders, organizations, and universities around the world
Why Now
The better AI gets at answering, the more your questions matter.
AI is changing how quickly people can research, analyze, create, and act. That speed can be enormously useful. It can also move a poorly framed problem, an untested assumption, or a weak decision forward much faster than before, creating costly rework, missed risks, and results that fall short.
And the pressures leaders already carry haven't gone away: difficult conversations, people who need to grow, and teams that need to perform.
Think about what happens when
- An AI recommendation looks convincing even though the original request lacked important context and the assumptions behind the answer haven't been examined.
- Someone sees a risk in a meeting but doesn't feel safe enough to challenge the direction.
- A manager enters a performance conversation already convinced they know what's wrong.
- A difficult conversation gets put off, or turns into telling instead of listening.
- A team moves toward agreement before seeing the full impacts that could change the decision.
In each case, the outcome is shaped before anyone takes action. It starts with a question, including the questions nobody says out loud.
What it costs
AI can accelerate the work. People are still responsible for the questions, judgment, and decisions that guide it.
- Poorly framed problems create rework.
- Missing context wastes time and AI spend.
- Unexamined assumptions become decisions, and those decisions become expensive to undo.
Human readiness for AI means people who can recognize the mindsets and blind spots shaping their questions, frame problems well, evaluate what comes back, and work through differences with others. That's what turns AI's speed into better decisions, higher performance, and stronger results.
When answers are cheap, inadequate questions get expensive.
Wrong questions are a performance risk. AI just makes them faster.
Free Live Event
Advancing Human Judgment in an AI World
AI can give you an answer in seconds. Human judgment happens in what you do before and after that answer.
On October 16, we're going to slow that process down and look at what is happening between a question, an AI answer, and a decision. We'll work with real examples so you can see the difference.
What Is Question Intelligence™?
The questions you ask shape what you see, what you miss, and the results you get.
Question Intelligence™ is a human performance capability.
The capability to strengthen thinking, judgment, conversations, and results through greater awareness and skill with the questions we ask ourselves and others.
It helps us recognize assumptions, shift our mindset, and ask questions with curiosity and intention by considering the situation, the people involved, and what we want to accomplish.
That applies when we're working with another person, leading a team, making a decision, or using AI.
Powered by Question Thinking™
Most leaders agree that AI makes human judgment more important. Question Intelligence is how you strengthen it.
How Question Intelligence Works
Question Intelligence includes the questions we ask ourselves and the questions we ask others.
That changes how we think and the quality of our conversations. When people practice both across a team, it changes how people think and perform together.
I
With yourself
Catch your own thinking first.
Notice your mindset, questions, and assumptions before they shape your conversations, decisions, and actions.
Stronger thinking before you speak or act.
You
With others
Create better conversations.
Listen, ask, and respond in ways that help both people see more, discover new options, and move the conversation forward.
More clarity, greater ownership, and more satisfying, effective conversations.
We
Together
Collaborate and perform better together.
Create the conditions where people can question, disagree, learn, contribute, and make better decisions together.
More engagement, innovation, and better collective judgment, performance, and results.
AI can be part of the work throughout. People remain responsible for the thinking, conversations, judgment, and decisions around it.
What Becomes Possible
Can better questions improve performance? Yes.
Question Intelligence changes the everyday moments that shape performance.
01
Stronger judgment and better decisions
People get better at checking assumptions, finding missing information, looking at different perspectives, and slowing down long enough to make a sound decision before mistakes cost time, energy, and money.
02
Greater trust and psychological safety
People are more willing to ask a question, admit uncertainty, challenge an assumption, raise a concern, or say something others may not have considered.
03
Better use of AI
People get clearer about what they're trying to accomplish before they ask AI for help. They provide better context, examine what comes back, notice gaps, and stay responsible for the final judgment.
04
More effective managers
Managers rely less on telling, fixing, and solving everything themselves. They ask questions that build understanding, accountability, development, and ownership, including in the conversations that are hardest to have.
05
Higher-performing teams
More of the thinking that matters gets into the room, including new ideas. Teams surface disagreement without getting stuck in it and move toward decisions with a clearer view of the risks, tradeoffs, and perspectives involved.
06
Clearer thinking under pressure
People learn to recognize when they're reacting automatically and regain curiosity sooner, especially when a conversation, decision, or relationship becomes difficult.
Established results from Question Thinking™ programs
- Millionsof dollars saved through Learner practicesU.S. Department of the Treasury
- 94–100%engagement, as rated by GallupU.S. Department of the Treasury
- 2:1career advancement for QT participants compared with peersKent State University
- 94%would recommend the trainingLarge North American bank
“Learner practices contributed to saving millions of dollars. We now have 94–100% engagement as rated by Gallup, and it's helped us create an Inquiring Organization.”IT Director · U.S. Department of the Treasury
“QT participants are experiencing career advancement at nearly 2:1 compared to peers who didn't participate. QT totally changed the conversations our leaders create.”Robert Hall, M.S. · HR Training & Development, Kent State University
For Executives, HR, Talent, and L&D Leaders
You don't need another leadership initiative.
Question Intelligence™ strengthens the human capability underneath the work you're already doing.
Organizations are investing in AI, manager effectiveness, change, team performance, culture, and leadership development. All of those investments depend on what people do when they're thinking through a problem, talking with someone, making a judgment, or deciding what happens next. Question Intelligence gives people practical ways to improve those moments.
AI readiness + human judgment
Help people move beyond basic AI use toward better problem framing, stronger evaluation, thoughtful challenge, and clearer decisions.
Leadership + manager effectiveness
Develop leaders who can examine their own thinking, handle difficult conversations, and help their people grow, while strengthening the capability and ownership of others.
Decision quality
Surface assumptions, risks, tradeoffs, missing information, and perspectives earlier, while there's still time to use them.
Team performance
Create more room for people to contribute, question, disagree, and think together without turning every decision into a consensus process.
Change + transformation
Help people notice their automatic reactions to change, stay open enough to learn and pivot as circumstances shift, and transform their thinking and outcomes by changing the questions they ask themselves and others.
Coaching + talent development
Give leaders, coaches, HR, Talent, OD, and L&D professionals a shared language and practical tools they can use inside the development work already underway.
When enough people strengthen their own thinking and their conversations, teams change. When enough teams change, culture changes. And the questions underneath your structures and systems shape what they produce.
Change those questions, and you change what gets built and how well it works.
Where to Start
Question Intelligence™ is powered by Question Thinking™.
Dr. Marilee Adams has spent more than 40 years developing Question Thinking™, a system of 14 practical tools people use to build Question Intelligence in their everyday work.
Start with the Choice Map™. It makes two familiar mindsets visible, Judger and Learner, and gives people a way to switch when blame, certainty, or defensiveness start narrowing their thinking.
Question Intelligence™ Essentials
Develop the capability. Practice it in your work.
Learn directly with Dr. Marilee Adams in four live online sessions. Question Intelligence™ Essentials helps leaders, managers, coaches, and HR and L&D professionals become more aware and skillful with the questions they ask themselves and others.
Participants practice applying Question Thinking™, the methodology from the bestselling Change Your Questions, Change Your Life, to current decisions, conversations, and leadership challenges.
See the results in your decisions, your conversations, and your team's performance.
- Nov 6 & 20 · Dec 4 & 18, 2026
- 8 hours live + 2 hours self-paced
- 10 ICF CCE hours
- Teams of 3+ save 15%
The Work Behind Question Intelligence
More than 40 years of Question Thinking™.
Dr. Marilee Adams is the originator of Question Thinking™ and Question Intelligence™. For more than 40 years, she has helped leaders, coaches, teams, and organizations become more aware of the questions shaping how they think, decide, communicate, and respond.
Before we act, we ask questions.
Sometimes consciously. Often automatically.
The key to exceptional thinking, communicating, and relating lies in skillfully asking the best questions of ourselves and others.”
Dr. Marilee Adams
Fifth Edition
Change Your Questions, Change Your Life
500,000+ copies · 26 languages
The book behind the work brings together 14 Question Thinking™ tools, including two new tools and a new chapter on navigating AI, technology, and change.
Use it for your own development or bring shared language and practices to your team. Orders of 10+ copies include Implementation & Discussion Prompts, a Concise Facilitation Guide, and a Digital Choice Map™ to share with your group.
Other Ways to Put Question Intelligence to Work
Better questions belong anywhere people think, learn, lead, and relate.
The same capability applies across work and life.
01
For coaches and advisors
Help people examine assumptions, expand how they see a situation, and develop their own thinking and responses.
02
For consultants and partners
Bring Question Thinking™ practices into leadership development, facilitation, change, team work, and client engagements. Talk with us about workshops, integrated programs, licensing, and partnership opportunities.
03
For personal growth and relationships
Become more aware of the questions you bring to yourself and the people around you. Listen differently. Question assumptions. Understand more before responding.
04
For educators
Build curiosity, reflection, thoughtful questioning, and a classroom culture where people are willing to say what they don't know and keep learning.
Already a Learner Living Founding Member?Choice Map: From Inner Practice to Better Conversations at Work · Wed, Oct 7, 2026 · 9–10 AM PT / 12–1 PM ETBring the Choice Map into the conversations where you want a different result. Complimentary for Learner Living Founding Cohort members.Cohort Members: RSVP →
In Their Words
What changes when people change their questions
“We’ve used Question Thinking so successfully in our work with teams that it has led to a radical transformation in how people approach and resolve problems. It also made an immediate and sustained change in their behavior. In an organizational culture, the more people can be taught these processes, the greater positive impact it can have on productivity and the bottom line.”
Carmella GranadoSenior Director of Organizational Effectiveness, Flextronics“One of the most valuable contributions I’ve made to the leaders in my organization is to help them recognize the difference and impact between directing and inquiring. Leaders report positive results, including that their employees are more committed, are offering more suggestions, and are ‘driving their own careers.’ These leaders also report a stronger connection with their staff overall.”
Laura MendelowLearning & Development Specialist“Question Thinking has transformed how I lead and influence teams. It has enabled me to build stronger trust with my teams which, as we know, is a key foundation for organization success. And it has transformed my life: the relationship with my wife and my family. My teams positively influence their families also with a Learner mindset, and so piece by piece we are building a more positive, Learner world.”
Nick AndrewsSenior Director, Expedia and Chief Question Officer
As AI gets more capable, the quality of our thinking becomes more consequential.
Organizations will keep getting better tools.They'll also need people who can frame a problem, recognize assumptions, make sound judgments, help people grow and perform, bring other people's best thinking into the conversation, and turn it into decisions that deliver better results.
That's the capability we develop.
Bring us a decision, a difficult conversation, a leadership challenge, a team dynamic, an AI-readiness priority, or a performance result you want to improve.
Question Intelligence™ · Powered by Question Thinking™
2026 Inquiry Institute