Think Again! The Craft of Inquiry (Part 2)
Istana Woodneuk (circa late 1940s), is the younger "sister" palace of Istana Tyersall. Its ruin still stands on the land which used to be known as Tyersall Park
In my previous post I wrote about the manuscript submission process and the questions literary agents ask, in particular the question “why does this book need to be published?” The questioning and answering involved in the submissions process led me to think about the art of questioning in other contexts, such as in business and management, where it is an extremely valuable technique when deployed by masterful questioner. I also presented a couple of examples of the answers I came up with in repose to the question "why does this book need to be be published?" However, the most comprehensive answer to this e question of can be found in the Introduction to Palace of Ghosts: in other words, in the book itself. Here is an excerpt from the book’s Introduction.
(3) The “Excerpt from the Introduction of Palace of Ghosts” Version
“Singapore is spectacularly successful and wealthy but has long been cast as superficial and materialistic. The island nation is sometimes amusingly referred to as “the little red dot”, and by some more mean-spirited individuals as “Singabore”: both monikers suggesting it is trivial and insignificant. It is far from that. In reality the soul of this city state lies deep within the fabric of Southeast Asia’s history; it is the beating heart of the region. The tiny island of Singapore, with a total area of 728 square kilometers was, and still is, dwarfed by the massive geographic and meteorological significance of the region in which it lies. But it was the hub of a mind bogglingly complex network of trading routes that bound together the tens of thousands of islands that lie within the Southeast Asian archipelago. It also held special significance for its immediate hinterland: the coastline of State of Johor (now part of southern Malaysia) and the islands of the Riau archipelago (now part of western Indonesia), which for centuries had shared Singapore’s trading hub status. On a globe this area lies at the bottom of a huge “V” connecting the Indian Ocean to its northwest and the Pacific Ocean and to its northeast; for sailing vessels navigating between these two oceans via the quickest passage available, Singapore – lying at exactly the point at which monsoonal winds changed direction – was a natural stopping-off point. For thousands of years these weather systems and Singapore’s strategic location were a match made in heaven, attracting traders from far and wide and providing opportunities for those that lived there to establish maritime Sultanates that grew rich on the constant flow of traffic.
Singapore’s recent history, since the Second World War and then “Merdeka”, independence, perhaps unintentionally obscures its history before those dates. This tendency to compartmentalize history often buries many stories and events that were, at the time, sensational. Singapore’s history is notoriously compartmentalized: pre-1819; the colonial period; WWII; Independence; the contemporary economic miracle. However, if we look beyond the imaginary screens created by successive transitions over the ages, ones that blur a more penetrative perception of the past, stories emerge that reveal a continuous history of resilience and perseverance, exhibiting those same human characteristics of love, loss, ambition and wealth that can be found at the heart of many national narratives. Strip away the surface soil and delve into history of Singapore and you start to uncover things of a most unexpected nature. Things that shed much light over Singapore’s economic and social history and its ancient bonds with Johor and Riau, regions that are, and will continue to be, critical stakeholders in Singapore’s engine of economic growth that powers Southeast Asia and beyond."
"Few historical icons offer a better lens through which to discover this hidden history than the stories of Singapore’s most splendid royal palaces, and the people and events connected to them. But they too are hidden. At the turn of the 20th century, by which time Singapore had become an established, truly global city, Tyersall Palace, known by its Malay name Istana Tyersall, was the grandest and most luxurious royal palace in Singapore, indeed in the whole of Southeast Asia. It was in fact the most magnificent royal palace to have ever stood on Singapore soil. It dwarfed any other similar such buildings, most notably its architectural rival, the official British Government House, (now known as The Istana, although never royal by any stretch of the imagination). Along with its sister palace, Istana Woodneuk, which had been built in the early 1870s and stood within the same grounds as Istana Tyersall, it was the hub of the social scene in 19th-century Singapore. An invitation to one of its famous balls was considered to be the pinnacle of acceptance into the top echelons of social society. It repeatedly upstaged Government House by hosting foreign dignitaries: kings, dukes, generals, top politicians and numerous other VIPS.
But by 1905 a third of Istana Tyersall lay in ashes, the remainder deserted. Sixty years later, the estate and the families who lived there had been largely forgotten. Forgotten, but not entirely gone. Istana Woodneuk still stood. Although neglected, the ruined Istana Tyersall and Istana Woodneuk held secrets whose hidden force refused to let it fall from memory entirely. They are connected to events that were global in nature, playing out in both Southeast Asia and in the great European capitals of the 19th century. Unsolved mysteries, stories of love, betrayal and loss that spanned the globe; tales of thwarted ambition, resilience, perseverance and, of course, fabulous wealth.
These stories are linked to events that are as relevant today as they were then, as any cursory scan of today’s news headlines will confirm: the rise and fall of empires; the disintegration of an ancient Sultanate; the establishment of new European managed entrepots; the creation of an entirely new royal dynasty; and the founding of new nation states. More fascinating, still, the human characters at the core of such dramas were as if drawn from fiction: adventurers, philanthropists, tycoons, politicians, aristocrats and royals. Their fates are interlinked and interwoven with the story of the magnificent palaces of Tyersall and Woodneuk, which are a lens through which we can perceive the history and development of Singapore and the immediate region. They provide a perspective as to why the city of Singapore and its hinterlands are what they are today, the fears and ambitions of the various personalities in this story are part of the lifeforce that led to the creation of the founding spirit and identity not only of Singapore, but also of the lands and people stretching north into the Malay Peninsula and south into the nearly two thousand islands of the Riau archipelago, where livelihoods continue to depend on Singapore."
One of Singapore’s many symbols of its “Garden City” branding – a reminder of its not so distant past when the region's land was blanketed in ancient rainforest. But it was the sea back then, not the land, where residents and visitors alike lived out their lives.
"Today, based on just about every metric used to grade global cities, Singapore ranks in the top three among the world’s cities. It is a model of efficiency and shines as an example to the world of optimal urban living, the Garden City vision. Such an achievement has not gone unnoticed: it is the third most visited city in the world. Anyone living in any city eager for a better life should be taking note not only of Singapore’s success, but of how it has made the long journey, one taking over two hundred years, to get to where it is today. Yet it is poorly understood: there is only superficial awareness of the key ingredients that make up the city’s culture and character, of how the present engages with the past, or how the past will influence the future. Even among Singaporeans there is little comprehension of how history shapes its culture and identity. Among all the stand out success metrics that Singapore scores, another sits rather uncomfortably: it is the UN’s World Happiness Index where Singapore ranks at a relatively lowly number 25. Something, it seems, is amiss.
Palace of Ghosts is an untold chapter of Singapore’s story and that of its immediate hinterland, from pre-colonial times to the internet age; disparate story threads bound together by the great houses and palaces that stood on a now forgotten piece of land sitting in the heart of Tanglin, Singapore’s most prestigious neighborhood. The story of the Tyersall estate, the people and events connected to it, is a microcosm of Singapore itself. It is a fascinating and penetrating spyglass into a past that lends a new and unique perspective on Singapore. It is not the whole story by any means, but it is one that expands the existing narrative. It is a reminder that although Singaporeans are frequently told by their leaders about their city’s vulnerabilities, its future – a confident future – lies firmly anchored in its history and in the region for which it serves as a radiant nucleus.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the closure of the Johor causeway and the suspension of ferries between Singapore and the islands of Bintan and Batam were a disaster for all concerned. The pandemic was a devastating spanner in the works to the decades-old process of reintegration with the immediate regional economy after the artificial imposition of modern national borders. Singapore’s future depends on a clear understanding of the immediate regional economic context and a resistance to narrowly defined nativism. Palace of Ghosts and its cast of characters is a single, uninterrupted arc of history that predates 1819 and flows seamlessly to the present and the digital future. It is a pertinent and prescient example of Churchill’s famous remark “The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward”.
(Source: Palace of Ghosts: How a Global City Gave Birth to a New Dynasty)
The Art of Questioning
Business processes are rarely perfect but crafting elevator pitches to capture the imagination of an agent is a creative and productive exercise in itself. Answering questions and questioning the questioner also reminds me of the importance of the art of masterful questioning: the use of questions to influence outcomes in a collaborative and non-confrontational way. In business it is a very valuable technique that can lead or guide colleagues or partners to consider alternative approaches or strategies. The technique leads them to these possibilities themselves rather than the manager simply telling them, or persuading them, what they should do. If it is “their’ idea they tend to be more invested in it. A manager’s responsibility is, after all, about developing people and not simply telling them what to do. Lastly, it is especially effective in one-on-one situations, a great way to help with conversations in such situations as performance reviews and mentoring, as well as in myriad informal situations, such as in the back of a taxi ahead of an important client or sales meeting.
A skilled questioner will have versed himself/herself in the many techniques regarding things like sequencing, timing, and question type. One of my favourites that would have my team members stifling their yawns after hearing it so many times was “The Five Whys of Toyoda”: the “old ones are always the best”, as the saying goes, but I challenge anyone to find a better way of getting to the real essence of an issue than this method. However, there is more to masterful questioning than just question technique. The craft of inquiry also requires being attuned to context. To do this, other important qualities, ones that writers also aspire to, are required.
Of the many I could list, the three that I would mention here are clarity, listening, and empathy. In my numerous business conversations, there was always a more satisfying and less confrontational tone if the questions were posed in a way that compelled my colleagues to think of new ideas, new approaches, or perhaps arrive at alternative conclusions if the discussion was helped along with prompting or searching questions. Without an acute sensitivity to the context this is, in my opinion, impossible to achieve. It is a classic case of the “what” – specific techniques – and the “how” – being attuned to the context. Clarity, listening and empathy is the golden triangle of communication which if absent from the conversation, or somehow detached from honed questioning technique, will lead to a sub-optimal result.
Conclusion
Asking the right questions can lead to a deeper understanding of a situation or a topic and encourage critical thinking. Even getting into the habit of asking yourself the right questions in the spirit of honest self-assessment is a productive exercise. Literary agents ask questions for their own purpose of filtering and sorting through the thousands of submissions they receive, but the aspiring author should be relishing the challenge of responding as a means to improve their own writing and approach. These are important lessons. Question everything. Never blindly believe what people say without stress testing it first and seeking other opinions. Whether in writing or in business, use the opportunity of challenging discourse to improve yourself and others with whom you interact with both thoughtful answers and masterful questioning.
Comments
Post a Comment