How Stupid Questions Can Lead to Smart Answers
February 10th, 2003 by HalWe've all heard the expression, "The only stupid question is the one not asked." Patrick Andrews puts his own spin on that in the article How stupid questions can lead to smart answers. Patrick is writing for technical project managers, but his comments apply more broadly. He tells us to admit our weaknesses.
When I ask for help in understanding some technological subtlety that underpins a project management decision, the experts on my team know that I trust them to explain things. They very much like being questioned as this gives them a special status, allows them to demonstrate their knowledge, and provides them with a way to contribute to the project in a novel way.
Patrick offers us 8 stupid questions to get us going. (Like I needed help)
- Why are we still using this tool?
- Can you remind me why we decided on this approach?
- Can anyone explain this problem to me in simple terms?
- Who’s our best person at dealing with this kind of problem?
- What does that acronym actually stand for?
- If you were in my shoes, what would you do?
- Why is your idea better than the way we usually do things?
How much does this procedure actually cost us?
Not to be one to leave well-enough alone I propose two additions to his list:
- Do we need to be doing this now?
- What would the customer think of this?
Leave your suggestions for dumb questions as a comment to the posting.
Patrick leaves us with this thought, The trick for effective project management is to really listen to the answers—and never ask the same "dumb" question twice. Oh no…there's that L-word again!
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February 11th, 2003 at 4:39 am
* What is the guiding principle/value behind that judgement?
* Would you mind sharing that Q&A in a common forum?
* Would this module gain momentum of developed in an open arena?
* Is that a good learning or R&D task for a Junior?
* How are you going about this project better than the last one?
* What experimental/progressive/calulated risk idea are you implementing in this project?
* Could this section be written in a high(er) level language?
* Would you entertain a discussion for using this technology in an unrelated environment?
* Can I discuss an idea that doesn’t have an easily calculatable value or results determination?
Looking forward to your p-logs announcements.
February 11th, 2003 at 2:48 pm
Thanks, Dean :+: