By Emma Lindley, HQN Strategic Network associate

Like most people, I’ve been experimenting with AI tools over the past few months. One thing’s become really clear to me: just like in real life, the better the question, the better the response.

There’s a lot of talk about ‘prompt engineering’ – as if you need to write the perfect instruction from the start. But in practice, I don’t approach AI any differently than I do other complex tasks. I work it through. I ask questions, test ideas, reframe. I explore the same way I would with a colleague, or by myself.

It’s made me think more about how valuable questioning really is, not just when using AI, but as a skill in its own right. The ability to ask good questions is one of the most underrated strategic skills. It’s how we uncover what really matters, identify blind spots, and push thinking forward. When used well, AI can help with this, but only if we know how to engage with it critically.

Right now, we’re at a point where AI is starting to change how lots of jobs work. Some tasks are being automated, others redesigned. While the headlines focus on what’s going away, I find myself thinking more about the skills we still need to protect and invest in: critical thinking, framing a problem, asking the right questions, staying curious. These skills take time and investment to develop.

If AI is doing more of the doing, then who’s doing the thinking? Who’s asking the awkward questions, the useful questions, the ones that shift how we see the problem?

Without good questions, AI becomes a mirror for lazy thinking. At worst, it reinforces assumptions and bias, or churns out generic advice. At best, it gives us a new way to work through a problem – but only if we drive the conversation.

Using AI well isn’t about writing the perfect prompt. It’s just about having a thoughtful, structured conversation. Not accepting the first response as conclusive, digging into the detail and sometimes pulling it apart. Here’s a recent example from something I was working on:

Step 1: Start with what you know – even if it’s vague

“I want to design a homelessness prevention offer for a mixed urban-rural area. I’m not sure where to start.”

AI might give you a list of generic ideas. Helpful, but broad. So, I dig deeper.

Step 2: Add context and constraints

“The area has high temporary accommodation use, low supported housing turnover, and limited private rented access. We’re trying to reduce repeat presentations and build better upstream prevention pathways.”

Now the output is more targeted, more grounded, and more useful.

Step 3: Test different angles

“What would a frontline housing officer say about this plan?”

“What could we explore with voluntary sector partners?”

“How might we strengthen this from a commissioning perspective?”

They’re not polished prompts. They’re just the kind of questions I’d use to think something through – with AI, or with a team. And to be clear, you should definitely still ask the team these questions.

There’s a lot of uncertainty right now around jobs, capability, and change. Graduate recruitment is down. Strategy roles are being reshaped. It’s tempting to outsource thinking, writing, even prioritisation. But that makes me wonder: how are we still developing people’s judgement, creativity, and ability to challenge? How are we making sure the questions don’t get lost in the rush for answers?

This isn’t about being anti-tech. I’m using AI more and more. But I want to be intentional about how and when I use it. And I want to protect the space for human thinking – especially in roles that involve strategy, policy, service design, or leadership. We need people who can ask better questions, of data, of strategy, of AI, and of each other.

I’ll leave you with a few more question starting points to support your use of AI as a thinking partner:

• “Help me think through…”
• “What questions should I be asking about…”
• “What would a [stakeholder] say about…”
• “Suggest a few angles I could explore for…”
• “What might be missing from my analysis of…”
• “Draft a first outline for a strategy that…”
• “Challenge my thinking on…”

They’re not fancy. They’re just ways of getting started, getting unstuck, or seeing something from a different perspective.