At Work, Asking Questions Will Not Make You Look Stupid

When I was starting out as management trainee, I was scared of asking questions to my boss. When I didn't understand something in meetings, I pretended I knew things and nodded my head in silence. My image was more important than the reality, I thought.

Today, I see the same thing in many traditional, conservative, and incompetent organizations. The host solicits questions from the attendees after the meeting but everyone stays silent. And yet magically, these same people send you e-mails with a list of clarifications. What gives? Were you shy to ask questions? Did you only think about the questions much later? Were you too slow to digest the information? Or were you not listening?

I am thankful to have grown wiser. I always ask questions the moment I get confused rather than give people the wrong impression. I don't pretend I know it all. I ask questions so I can preempt problems and challenges along the way – and before they even get worse.

Besides, asking a question doesn’t make you stupid. It means you’re curious and attentive to details. It means you were listening. It means you are taking this task seriously. Most important of all, it means you are humble, and that you are self-aware that you don’t know everything but you are willing to learn so you can do better at your job. You want to be the company's next rockstar. But for now, you know you have to be an absorbent sponge.

Being silent so you can project a good image is nothing but selfish. And senior leaders loathe this. Rather, they are more impressed with humble youngsters who want to learn something new every day. To quote the astrophysicist, Reina Reyes: "We ask questions not because they matter. We do it because it matters that we ask questions."

#work #image #productivity #reality

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