Bring the "PAST to the PRESENT" is a wonderful way to help 'peel the onion' so-to-speak, and enter a mindset that helps you begin to ask very thought-provoking questions.

It helps bring problems to the forefront.

Bringing the Past to the Present looks like the following:

• "Out of curiosity, how long would you say that's been an issue for you? Curious to understand a bit more."
  
  
• "I'm not exactly sure how to ask this, yet to what extent have you done anything to try and fix these issues in the past, or has it not been that important for you and the team?"
  
  
• "This might sound a bit forward, yet has the team thought about the impact it might have on the business at all? Curious how you've been thinking about it."
  
  
• "Really curious, in your opinion, what is the reason you feel the team has not fixed this issue up until now?"
  
  
• "It sounds like although this has been an issue for the team, you still have been doing ok in spite of the issue not being fixed. Is that fair to say?"
  

You'll notice these questions include Humbling Disclaimers, empowering you to ask effective questions that don't sound too harsh.