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Take time for you.

Find a few quiet minutes, pick one card, and acknowledge every thought and idea that comes up: the first one, and the ones after it. The short demo below shows you how.

Beyond the coaching session

Morning journal prompt

Draw one card each morning. Write your answer to the front, then work down the back. Write "and what else?" under each answer and keep going.

Keep a question with you

Put a card in your wallet, use it as your phone background, or prop it up on your desk. Come back to it during the day.

Conversations at home

Use a card on a date night or with friends. Each person answers the front, then you take turns with the back.

Groups and teams

Spread the cards on the table and let each person choose one. Go round: everyone reads their card and answers the front question.

A) Choose any card, or
B) Choose a category, then a card

Explore Curiously

Foster Trust

Empower Action

Honor Yourself

Clarify Decisions

Shift Perspectives

Why it works

First answers might be rehearsed

The first answer is the one you’ve already told before. It may be honest, but there’s likely more. Stopping after the first answer - or the first question - leaves untapped potential and richer insights. Consider additional answers and new perspectives for each question, challenging yourself to explore until you reach an a-ha moment. Keep going!

A coaching best practice

Michael Bungay Stanier included “and what else?” as one of his seven core questions in The Coaching Habit. It’s no accident that Stephen Nock found the same question to be valuable through coaching and journaling. “And what else?” is a versatile question we can ask ourselves and others to make sure that we get to the heart of a situation.

Why start with “What?”

"Why" questions can make people defend their reasons. "How" questions ask for a method that the person may not have yet. "What" stays neutral and opens the thinking. Compare "Why is this important to you?" with "What makes this important to you?" It is the same question, with nothing to defend.

Let the question be “right”

Hunting for the perfect question can lead to analysis paralysis. Ask whichever question comes up. If a question doesn’t resonate, notice any resistance or consider reframing the question to prompt deeper reflection. You’ll know if a different question wants to be answered.

Treat "I don't know" as a good sign

“I don’t know” is the best signal that we are arriving and ready to discover new answers. Life would be really boring if we had all the answers all the time. Let yourself not know for a bit. Suspend judgment and uncertainty. This is an exercise about expanding ideas, not limiting them.

mindfulness cards used for daily mindfulness

Where the concept started

Stephen regularly journals following writer Elizbeth Gilbert’s daily Letters from Love practice, with the additional belief that the first answer was not the most insightful one. And What Else? came out of reverse-engineering the journal responses and uncovering which hidden questions were actually the most important to answer. Every question is handcrafted and tested.

The creators

The creators

Stephen Nock knows high-pressure, fast-moving work, and how hard it can be to create meaningful moments at work and in life. He is an ICF-accredited coach and the founder of &joy Coaching, a coaching and facilitation practice in Berlin. He brings a calm, mindful approach to his work with teams and individuals, and helps them move through change with calm, clarity and confidence. His reminder: we are human beings, not human doings. He created the deck together with Studio Mengke, a studio for visual identity design, research and strategy.

The Craft of Asking Questions

Stephen and Tobi spoke on The Impactful Coach podcast about the craft of asking questions. After exploring some concepts and theories, Stephen coached Tobi with his choice: the “Foster Trust” category. The conversation explored “What do I need?” and landing on the question of what “enough” means.