I caught myself dropping a conclusion on someone, here’s the thing, here’s what it means, here’s what we should do. What I should have done is frame it as a question: how does this reshape your thinking? I arrived with an answer when I should have arrived with curiosity, and explained my own reasoning better on the way in.
The difference is subtle but it changes everything about the conversation. A conclusion asks people to agree or push back. A question invites them to actually think alongside you, and you usually end up somewhere better than the take you walked in with.
When you bring someone an idea, are you opening a conversation or closing one?