We admit: asking “dumb questions” can be tough. Many people often hold back from asking them out of fear of embarrassment. But as awkward as they may be to ask, if you’re not verbalizing your dumb questions, you could be missing out on major opportunities to learn and grow personally and professionally. Take it from Under Armour CEO Stephanie Linnartz. Stephanie spent 25 years at Marriott, ultimately rising to president, before she took the role with the performance apparel giant. In this episode of #ThisIsWorking, Stephanie sits down with LinkedIn editor in chief Daniel Roth to talk about her journey to the C-suite, and how asking dumb questions was pivotal to her smooth transition into retail. “I did a lot of listening and learning,” Stephanie said. “I read every single thing I possibly could about the company and the stakeholders, every analyst report, and that helped prepare me. So I walked in with some base level of knowledge about the strengths and the opportunities for the company before, before I began.” What skills do you think make an effective CEO? Are you afraid to ask “dumb questions”? Let us know in the comments.
LinkedIn News in my opinion there are no "dumb questions"! We learn by doing and having questions answered. If you don't know, you don't know, there should be no embarassment whatsoever in wanting to understand something, it should be embraced. People often shy away from asking questions because they don't want to appear "dumb". How are people supposed to develop and progress if they don't feel safe asking questions? I ask questions all of the time, I don't know everything and don't profess too either. I am constantly learning and that's crucial for me. I have a curious brain. Is that bad? Does it make me dumb? If other people view questions as dumb, that's their perogative but it shouldn't stop others wanting clarification on something. The narrative needs to be changed on this, as when teams/people are well informed it will lead to a more knowledgable, efficient, understanding workforce.
I would say 90% of the time, when I was hesitant to ask a question for any reason, I regretted it soon after when it was quickly revealed to not be a "rookie mistake" but a genuine issue that someone else either had already faced or was going to face eventually. It's led to documentation improvements, critical fixes, and more. The other 10% of the time, a few people chuckled at the guy that misunderstood what a no-op command was and everyone moved on with their day. I think it's a good point and generally speaking it leads to either the company adapting to resolve your question, or learning how to avoid the issue yourself once and for all.
Yves Dansereau
11mo
I have said this many times to people I have helped mentor. “There is no such thing as a dumb question. I am the expert in my field of operation, that why I am here. I have 40 years, with lots of hands on knowledge you will never find in books. For those 2 reasons you need to pick my mind to avoid dumb errors. Dumb questions avoid dumb errors”
Regina L. Lewis
11mo
Insightful interview … 3 takeaways think are applicable to all great CEOs: 1) Walking the shop or shop floor & asking simple questions, “What’s selling?” “Why this way?” = such a smart way to skip the deck, get right to the end goal & reverse engineer continuous improvement. 2) “Not yet” = sage construct. Demonstrates maturity for younger execs. signaling they’re playing the long game. For older execs., signals they’ve still got game. 3) Above all, and have never heard this, the notion of preparing for your last job vs. first is personally & professionally inspiring. Logging off to go tell my own kids ….
Vicki Wilcut
11mo
No, I am a Business Analyst and as such I am NOT afraid to ask questions, even those deemed as “Dumb Questions”. At times the questions you ask Many times your
Robert (Bob) Stewart
11mo
I was getting radiation for cancer. After many treatments set up with a female, then changed to a male. They had to set up 3 deflector plates in the machine to change the direction of the lazer beam. As the guy was leaving to go outside and press the button for the 3rd time, I said, excuse me, this may be a dumb question, but should you not be placing a 3rd plate before to pressing the button again. His answers was “ Oh shit “ as his knees buckled as he put his hands over his face. He added the 3rd plate and never said a word. At my next treatment it was the lady again, and I asked her what would happen if she did not use the 3 rd plate before hitting the button? She replied, “ It would probably have severely damaged your spine, and you may not have been able to walk, why do you ask?” So your dumb question may not be as dumb as you thought. As it turned out the machine would not have fired without the plate being there, at least that was what I was told, but I don’t think so!
Dale Wilcox
11mo
I do know one thing. If you don't ask you don't know.
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11moI have found that Questions(Information) are frowned upon in many companies-questions though get to the point of the matter(at times), questions revel many variables of a company and its organic Personality, most will Not ask questions(they are afraid to show Ignorance)-that is a shame because questions show acute Interest, questions show that we want to "learn" about the company, questions show we "care" and want to know more, questions may show how the company is organized from a decision making standpoint-Ask questions Repeatedly and with passion-You will be a unicorn that stands out at any company