Our friend KP in Illinois is a woman with theories. One of our favorites is the idea of The Five Questions. These are five simple questions that if people would ask before they do something just might alleviate the vast majority of behavior caused problems. The questions were first formulated in a teaching environment, but over time we’ve applied the five questions to many events both local and worldwide with satisfactory results. Lately several people has asked for a list of the five questions, so here they are.

1. What did you think was going to happen?
The power of the five questions was revealed back when Prince Harry wore a Nazi uniform. Imagine how Harry’s life might have been different had he simply asked himself, seriously, what might happen if the young man third in line to the British throne were to don the uniform not only of the most reviled regime in history but also of the army that almost bombed his own country back into the stone age. In general, this question can help avoid many problems simply by forcing one to think realistically about the consequences of one’s actions.

2. What’s that supposed to mean?
People often toss off comments without thinking or try to hide their true feelings with obfuscation. These attempts often lead to trouble, trouble that can often be averted by asking the question.

3. How long have you known about this?
Originally formulate as “When was this assigned?”, “How long have you known about this?” is the question to ask people when they’ve obviously known that something was going to happen for quite some time but failed to act on it. In the classroom, this is the question usually asked of students who are desperately trying to get an extension on an assignment they’ve had for three weeks but only started working on three days before the due date.

4. When were you going to tell me about this?
Related to question #3 but bringing something special to table, this question deals with information that people have known for quite some time, information that may have been beneficial for others to know, but for reasons unclear to all has been withheld.

5. How’s that working out for you?
Along with question one, Question 5 is perhaps the workhorse of the bunch. Usually asked of people who are explaining (or making an excuse) their plan of action that is clearly not working but that they clearly persist in enacting.

So there they are, the Five Questions. We’d love to hear your examples. Who knows, if response is good enough we might even make up a Five Questions website.