“So, how did it go?” I asked. Cheryl had just emerged from her team meeting. Her eyes were still wide in partial disbelief.

“I am not sure, but I think we have solved the quality problem with the incoming plastic parts,” she replied.

“How did that happen?”

“Instead of telling the team what to do, I just asked questions and listened. I knew how I wanted this problem solved, but I listened. At first they were going off a cliff, so I asked the question in a different way. It was like magic. They gave me the solution I was looking for. Before I could say anything, they started volunteering to fix the problem.

“It seems that the burrs on the plastic parts were all from the same lot number. Sherman volunteered to run the defective parts over a grinder to remove the burr, but it was Andrew who surprised me.

“He volunteered to call the molding company and find out what was causing the burr. In fact, he left the meeting for five minutes and had the answer. The molder knew there was a problem with that lot, but didn’t think it would matter. They have since fixed the problem and are sending a short run over for us to inspect. Andrew said he would be standing by.”

“So, why does this surprise you?” I asked.

“I didn’t sleep last night worrying about how the meeting would go. I was expecting a big confrontation. Turns out, all I had to do was ask two questions.”

“So, what are you going to do the rest of the day?”

“I was thinking about taking a nap,” Cheryl said with a smile.