Quality

[sansarag]

All you need to do is keep an eye on where your feet stand and your heart lies.Questions Aren’t a Starting Point, They’re Markers for the Road AheadResearch and homework are vital, but deep knowledge comes from doing, from getting your hands dirty and from asking the questions others are too afraid or embarrassed to ask.How many times have we stopped ourselves from asking a question, clarifying a doubt or just digging a little deeper into something that sparked our curiosity?‘What if my question makes me sound ignorant, or worse, stupid?’‘Maybe I should try figuring it out myself, why ask?’‘People don’t like too many questions, it irritates them.’‘I’m sure it isn’t that tough, someone would have asked a question otherwise.’It’s that constant voice in our head telling us that we shouldn’t speak up for fear of being labelled stupid, irritating or worse, uncool.They help us learn, understand and expand our minds like no other action can.I was the kid who would always have a question, who would want to know how things worked and how they were made.I was truly a curious cat for everything seemingly useful and definitely useless.But it’s uncool to ask too many questions!So, somewhere along the way, ‘coolness’ became more important than ‘understanding’.And the questions dried up.But then I learnt a trick that helped me bring the curious cat back from the uncool zone to the ‘you’re in charge’ spot.It’s served me well in different ways at different times in my life and career.At most times, when I have a question in a professional setting, I start with, ‘I have a stupid question.’That one word, ‘stupid’, works like magic.You’re setting a low bar for yourself by calling the question stupid, so the pressure on you feels lesser.The people around you also don’t judge you too much because, well, you’ve already said it could be stupid.If it turns out to be not stupid, then you’re a lot cooler than if you hadn’t stated it was stupid in the first place!It’s like how our brains are wired to not complain about something being too hot or too spicy if it has a label that says, ‘This is very hot and super spicy’.It’s the same for the disclaimer about mutual funds too.This is specifically for when you rise up the ranks in your profession, become a little senior, as they say, and take on leadership positions.This is how I use it.I start any question or idea I have with ‘I have a stupid idea’.It’s almost like a free pass to anyone in the room to call out or state their perspective on my idea.Most people I’ve worked with for a while know this is a tool I use, but they play along because they know I’m doing it to give them a free pass.Over the last few years of hosting over a hundred and fifty podcasts, I’ve realized how much a good question can teach not just the person asking but even the person responding.Here are a few of my observations and guidelines.The quality of your questions determines the quality of your life.