Leadership has traditionally been associated with knowing. A leader is expected to have the answers, provide direction, solve problems and make decisions.
But in complex organisations, especially those where knowledge is distributed across professions, teams and levels of hierarchy, no single leader can know enough. The person closest to the problem may know something the leader does not.
The frontline worker may see something the senior executive cannot see. The resident, patient, customer or family member may understand an experience that organisational data cannot fully capture.
This creates a deceptively simple leadership challenge: Can I ask before I tell?
That is where Humble Inquiry, a concept developed by organisational psychologist Edgar H. Schein comes in. Schein describes Humble Inquiry as the art of drawing someone out, asking questions and building a relationship based on curiosity and genuine interest rather than telling people what to do.
It sounds simple. In practice, it requires a profound shift in how we understand leadership.
1. The problem with knowing
Imagine a nursing-home manager visiting a ward. A staff member says: “The new process isn’t working.” The manager immediately responds: “You need to give it more time. We’ve designed this process carefully.”
The manager has provided an answer. But the conversation has ended before the manager has learned what the staff member actually knows.
A humble inquiry response might be: “Tell me more. What are you noticing?”
The staff member explains that the process creates delays during medication rounds.
The manager asks: “Can you show me where that happens?”
Now the manager is learning something that wasn’t visible from the office.
The first response assumes: “I know.” The second begins with: “I may not know.” That difference can transform organisational learning.
2. Humble Inquiry is not simply asking questions
Many leaders ask questions. But not every question is an inquiry.
Consider: “Why didn’t you follow the procedure?” This is grammatically a question.
But relationally, it may communicate: “You have done something wrong. Explain yourself.”
Compare it with: “Can you help me understand what happened?” The second question opens space.
Humble Inquiry is therefore not about collecting information. It is about creating a relationship in which another person is willing to share what they know, think and experience. The quality of the relationship shapes the quality of the information.
3. The word “humble” matters
Schein’s use of humble does not mean being submissive or lacking confidence.
It refers to recognising that: “I don’t know what I don’t know.”
The leader accepts that other people possess knowledge that is unavailable to them. This is particularly important in organisations where expertise is distributed.
A CEO may understand strategy. A nurse may understand the realities of care delivery. A care assistant may understand a resident’s daily patterns. A family member may understand what the resident experiences at home. Each holds a different piece of reality.
Humility allows the leader to say: “I need your perspective in order to understand the whole.”
4. Humble Inquiry changes the relationship
Schein distinguishes between what he describes as status, rank and relationship dynamics. In organisations, hierarchy is unavoidable. A manager has authority. A staff member may have less formal authority. But hierarchy does not have to determine every interaction.
Humble Inquiry temporarily shifts the relational stance from: “I am the person who knows.” to: “I want to understand what you know.”
This can reduce unnecessary distance. It tells the other person: “Your experience matters.” That message can be especially powerful in hierarchical organisations.
5. Telling Versus Asking
A simple contrast illustrates the difference.
Telling: “Here’s what you need to do.”
Asking: “How do you think we should approach this?”
Telling: “The problem is communication.”
Asking: “Where do you see communication breaking down?”
Telling: “Staff are resistant to the change.”
Asking: “What are you hearing from staff about the change?”
Telling: “We need stronger teamwork.”
Asking: “When does teamwork work well here, and when does it become difficult?”
The second approach does not mean the leader gives up expertise. It means expertise becomes something to contribute after understanding, rather than before it.
6. Humble Inquiry and Psychological Safety
People do not automatically tell leaders what they really think. They assess risk. “Will I get into trouble?” “Will my manager think I’m difficult?” “Will speaking honestly affect my career?” “Does this leader really want to know?”
A leader who repeatedly asks questions but becomes defensive when hearing inconvenient answers quickly teaches people: “Don’t tell the truth.”
Humble Inquiry therefore has a behavioural test: What does the leader do with the answer?
If a staff member says: “The new system is creating extra work” and the leader replies:“That’s not true” the inquiry has closed.
If the leader responds: “That’s interesting. Help me understand where the extra work is occurring” the inquiry continues.
The real measure of humility is not whether we ask questions. It is whether we can receive what we hear.
7. Humble Inquiry and Active Listening
Humble Inquiry requires a particular kind of listening. Not listening while preparing our response. Not listening selectively for confirmation. Not listening so that we can identify the problem and provide the solution. But listening to discover: “What am I missing?”
This changes the internal posture of the leader. Instead of: “What should I tell them?” the leader thinks: “What can I learn here?” That question alone can change the quality of a conversation.
8. The power of the Follow-Up Question
Often the most powerful question is not the first one. It is the second. “Tell me more.” “What makes you say that?” “Can you give me an example?” “What are you noticing?” “What happened next?” “How did that affect the team?” “What do you think I might be missing?”
These questions slow the conversation down. And slowing down can be particularly important for leaders who are accustomed to rapid decision-making. The leader resists the impulse to conclude. Instead, curiosity becomes a discipline.
9. Humble Inquiry in a nursing home
Consider a nursing home where families have complained that communication is inconsistent. A conventional management response might be: “We need to improve communication with families.” A Humble Inquiry approach begins by going to the people closest to the work. Ask the care team: “What are families asking about most frequently?” Ask nurses: “Where does information get lost?” Ask care assistants: “What do families notice that we might overlook?” Ask administrative staff: “What do you hear from families when they call?” And, importantly, ask families: “What helps you feel informed and confident about your loved one’s care?”
Different perspectives reveal different parts of the system. The problem becomes richer. And therefore the possibilities for intervention become richer.
10. Humble Inquiry and Organisational Learning
An organisation learns when information can travel. But information often gets blocked by hierarchy. Junior staff know something but do not tell managers. Managers know something but do not tell senior leaders. Teams develop local workarounds that never become organisational knowledge.
Humble Inquiry helps create channels through which experience can travel up, across and around the organisation.
A leader asking: “What are we missing?” can be more powerful than a leader saying: “Here’s what I think is happening.” The first question invites organisational intelligence.
11. Humble Inquiry and Action Inquiry
There is a strong connection between Humble Inquiry and Action Inquiry.
Action Inquiry asks: “What is happening in me, with others and in the wider situation?” Humble Inquiry adds: “What can I learn from the other person that I cannot see from where I stand?” Together, they create a powerful leadership practice.
A leader notices: “I’m becoming frustrated.” Action Inquiry asks: “What’s happening in me?” Humble Inquiry then asks: “Instead of reacting, what can I learn from the other person’s perspective?”
The two approaches therefore help leaders move from: certainty → curiosity and from: reaction → inquiry.
12. Humble Inquiry and Appreciative Inquiry
Humble Inquiry also complements Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry asks: “When are we at our best?” Humble Inquiry asks: “Help me understand what you see.” Together they can help organisations discover strengths without imposing the leader’s interpretation.
For example: “Tell me about a time when this team worked exceptionally well.” Then: “What do you think made that possible?” And: “What might I not be seeing?”
The organisation learns from the people who actually live the experience.
13. Humble Inquiry and Motivational Inquiry
There is another interesting connection with Motivational Inquiry. Motivational Inquiry asks: “What matters to you?” Humble Inquiry asks: “Help me understand what matters to you.”
The difference is subtle but important. The leader is not trying to extract motivation to achieve an organisational objective. The leader is genuinely interested in understanding the person’s perspective. That can create the conditions for deeper ownership.
For example: “What is important to you about the work you do?” “What gives you a sense of satisfaction?” “What gets in the way?” “What would you like to be different?”
The person is invited to articulate their own meaning.
14. The challenge for experts
The more senior and experienced we become, the harder Humble Inquiry can become. Experience creates pattern recognition. Pattern recognition is valuable. But it can also create premature certainty.
We see a familiar situation and think: “I’ve seen this before.” And because we have seen something similar, we stop seeing what is different.
Humble Inquiry introduces a useful discipline: “It looks familiar. What might be different this time?” That one question can protect experienced leaders from one of the hazards of expertise: knowing too quickly.
15. Humble Inquiry and distributed leadership
Humble Inquiry naturally supports distributed leadership. If the leader believes: “I am responsible for having the answers,” leadership becomes concentrated at the top.
If the leader believes: “My responsibility is to help the organisation access and use its collective intelligence,” leadership becomes distributed.
The leader’s power changes from having the answer, to creating the conditions in which better answers can emerge. This is particularly relevant in professional organisations such as healthcare, education and social services. Expertise is distributed. No single leader can know enough.
16. The danger: Performative Inquiry
There is one important trap. Leaders can learn the language of inquiry without changing their underlying mindset. They ask: “What do you think?” But have already decided. They ask: “Any concerns?” but do not want to hear them. They invite participation: “Let’s discuss.” but punish disagreement.
This is pseudo-inquiry. People recognise it quickly. Genuine Humble Inquiry requires the leader to tolerate being influenced by the answer.
The question therefore becomes: “Am I asking because I genuinely want to know, or because I want people to agree with me?” That is a powerful leadership self-check.
17. The deeper leadership practice
Humble Inquiry ultimately asks leaders to reconsider what leadership is. Perhaps leadership is not simply knowing the way and showing others the way. Perhaps it is also creating the relationships and conversations through which people can discover the way together. This is especially important in complex systems. When the environment is uncertain, the leader cannot always know the answer in advance.
But the leader can create a culture where:
- people speak up;
- expertise travels;
- questions are welcomed;
- assumptions are examined;
- differences are explored;
- learning happens continuously.
In such an organisation, humility is not weakness. It becomes an organisational capability.
18. From “I know” to “Help me understand”
The essence of Humble Inquiry can be captured in one sentence: “Help me understand what I cannot see from where I stand.” That is a powerful stance for a leader. It acknowledges the limits of one’s own perspective while recognising the knowledge and experience of others.
And it creates an invitation: “Your perspective matters.”
In workplaces facing complexity, uncertainty and rapid change, this may be one of the most important leadership practices we can develop. Not because leaders should stop leading. But because the quality of leadership increasingly depends on the quality of the questions leaders are willing to ask, and the answers they are genuinely willing to hear.
A final question for leaders
The next time someone brings you a problem, notice your first impulse. Do you want to solve it, explain it, defend yourself, or understand it?
Before giving your answer, try saying “Tell me more. Help me understand what you’re seeing.” And then listen.
You may discover that the person standing in front of you knows something that the organisation desperately needs to know.
