How to ask good questions
A good question gives STYD enough to work with. The clearer your question, the more accurate and useful the answer.
The anatomy of a good question
When it is relevant, include the four things that remove most guesswork:
Metric
What you want measured — a count, a total, an average, a list.
What you want measured — a count, a total, an average, a list.
Entity
What it is about — customers, orders, products, invoices.
What it is about — customers, orders, products, invoices.
Timeframe
The period — this month, last quarter, 2025.
The period — this month, last quarter, 2025.
Filter
Any conditions — only paid, a specific region, a status.
Any conditions — only paid, a specific region, a status.
Habits that help
Avoid vague terms when their business meaning is unclear — say what you mean.
Ask one main question at a time; refine with follow-ups afterwards.
Validate important answers before acting on them.
Give feedback when an answer is wrong, so it can be reviewed and improved.
Example
Vague
“How are sales doing?”
“How are sales doing?”
Clear
“Total sales revenue by month for 2025.”
“Total sales revenue by month for 2025.”
The clear version names the metric, the entity, and the timeframe — so STYD has far less to assume.