"What is the desired outcome?" Dale Frayn suggested this as a great way to stay focused on the end goal and to gain greater clarity. It's a question I think we need to ask constantly. In fact, what would happen if you changed your meeting agenda items to "desired outcomes?"

"How would Lisa Simpson solve this?"  Because precocious Lisa Simpson, as we all know, is wise beyond her years and always strives to do the right thing, Jennifer Morin suggested this as a great question. (Of course, I think we could also ask "What would Bart do?" when hunting for off-the-wall ideas.)

Rather than asking "Can I help you?" changing the question with just one word, to "How can I help you?" is a friendlier way to find out specifically what someone needs. As Athena Watters pointed out, we can already assume a customer is calling/asking us for help, so adding the "how" makes a subtle yet important distinction. 

Michelle Wilcox suggested, that while we should make sure our workplace matches the hype in our help wanted ads, we also need to ask, "Does your help wanted ad match the hype you want your employees to bring to the job?"  (If you want enthusiastic, creative, fun candidates, are your help wanted ads enthusiastic, creative and fun?) 

"If you could have your manager possess the qualities of a superhero which superhero would they be?" I love this quirky suggestion from Anita Sakiyama. It's one of those sideways questions that might help spark interesting conversations and ideas. 

"Why is this important to you?" or "What makes this important to you?"  This came from Karla Mather-Cocks, and I agree that it's a great question for gaining greater clarity. 

And lastly, a great suggestion given the time of the season: "What difference can I make in your life without giving you anything tangible?"  I love this suggestion from Bhagwandas Chibba, it's a great one for leaders to embrace as a reminder than there are so many things beyond the tangible in a workplace that influence the happiness and well being of employees.