The Power of the Stupid Question!

How many times have you been in a meeting where everyone seems to know what is going on except you? You seem to have missed something! But when you confide in a colleague outside the meeting, you find that they were as much in the dark as you and both of you (and most likely more people) are now on catch up to find out more about the meeting. For the sake of a simple question, you could have saved yourself a lot of time and angst and the meeting would have been a lot more worthwhile.

There is no such thing as a "stupid" question! Possibly open to debate at another time. However, everyone has their own level of knowledge and we should all be looking to learn from others. Asking the question means that you can contribute further to the work and also demonstrates that you are present and interested in the topic.

In developing a psychosocially safe working (and home) environment, showing vulnerability can be a great way for a leader to demonstrate that they are human and hence would welcome the input of the team to bring out the best performance and results.

A leader who asks questions to understand more about their workers and the work shows that they don't know everything and are willing to learn and develop. This encourages their team to do the same.

Building a sense of belonging within the team can develop strong connections and hence encourage the members of the team to speak up with suggestions for improvement and identify flaws in the existing processes. A Leader who is part of the team and serving the team (rather than expecting the team to serve them) is more likely to be approached with these suggestions and hence be able to facilitate further improvements.

A team who feels that they will not be judged by their leader when they ask a question will thrive and look to do their best and be innovative to deliver greater improvements as a team.

Most employees have views and opinions on how the work should be done. Rather than keep these conversations to the gossip of the tea rooms, welcome the input.

Ask team members "what would you do if you had my role?". The results may be illuminating !