IS IT OKAY TO ASK QUESTIONS?

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ASK QUESTIONS 


You know that bugging and itching feeling that feels like a burden on your mind when you know you seek clarity about something but it seems like a foolish idea to even ask that question?


Some of us would rather languish in silence and confusion than face the laughter and smirk on the faces of our peers or teachers when we raise hands to ask those questions.


But, It's okay to ask questions, both foolish and otherwise wise or thoughtful ones. I have come to realise that the seemingly foolish questions can be relative. While some questions may seem quite foolish and unnecessary to some people, it would make a whole of sense and meaning to another group of people. 


In my early months of working in the corporate world, aviation sector specifically, having no experience, I would brace up my shy self to ask questions. After all, we had been advised that we must never work based on assumptions. You must be clear in all ramifications. What if the pilot only assumed that the aircraft was in good shape without following the Standard Operating Procedures(SOPs) and took off with lives at risk?


So, on many occasions, some colleagues would dare to shut me up with the talk of 'Ask Google'. I felt embarrassed and stupid on those occasions because it seemed like I was so unintelligent and lacked common sense. 


Common sense that I could have easily picked up on the streets of Google and here I was, busy wasting time at meetings and bombarding them with questions, thereby making the meeting longer. 


Well, one day I was bold enough to damn such talks that gender inferiority complex and I said, "Google may not give me the first hand experience that some of us here have had in the job. So when I ask questions, it's because I seek clarity from the point view of experience and not just some theoretical read up I do on the internet. So please allow me"


I cleared the air and I was glad that I did because I did not even know that these questions I usually asked were burning questions in the hearts of some others. They also gained clarity and better understanding on issues. Also, by reason of my questions, certain topics that needed to be discussed and resolved were done. 


It may seem rather unintelligent and lacking some sense but remember the saying that in every nonsense there is a sense. 


Imagine paying the price of painful experience simply because you could not afford the cheaper option of asking questions. 

If you must do your job right, you must ask questions. For a healthy relationship, it better to create an atmosphere where one can freely ask questions.


The failure to ask questions puts a strain on relationships or even damages them.


Don't just make assumptions about a thing or a person. 


It is also true that one of the reasons people fail to ask questions is that they are afraid of the answers. It takes courage therefore to ask questions; you must be prepared to get answers and take the necessary actions suggested or provided. 


Daniel G. Amen in his book, The Magnificent Mind at Any Age, summarised the following points:

  • What I do not know has power over me, whereas knowledge brings choice and control. 

  • Information is power

  • My fear of being ignorant becomes my fear of asking questions


Please feel free to share your views and make remarks.


I stand to be corrected. 




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