Why Are You Afraid to Ask Questions at Work?

Here’s a thing that happens to me all the time: I’m facilitating a meeting with a team of executives and they’re discussing a complex part of their business. I pause to ask a “dumb” question. (The ability to ask questions like that is one of the perks of being an outsider looking in at an organization.)

Instead of getting an articulate answer to my "dumb" question, I get blank stares. People blush and clear their throats. Why? Because the question that seemed so dumb to me is one none of them actually knows the answer to. And it's not because they're not smart enough; it's because they've simply never thought to ask.

Why are we afraid to ask questions?

Part of why I love my job is that I’m paid to ask questions. Asking lies at the heart of facilitation. A great question is often the fastest path to an answer or a cool discovery.

Maybe you're afraid you'll look incompetent. But asking questions is often the smartest move you can make.

But so many people fear asking questions. If you're one of them, there could be lots of underlying reasons keeping you from asking the questions that would help you make progress. Maybe you're afraid you'll seem incompetent, or that you're unable to figure things out for yourself. Maybe you're worried that you'll slow the work down, or that you're making an unreasonable demand on someone else's time or energy.

My goal today is to convince you that asking questions, and asking them well, is often the smartest move you can make. Questions, when you ask them strategically, have the power to connect you, expand ideas and thinking, and grow and develop your capabilities.

How asking great questions at work can help your career

Let’s talk about what a great question can do for you and how you might benefit from the asking.

Asking questions can further your great idea

You want to show up as a genius at work. Who doesn't want to be the hero, right?

The key is to strike a balance between showing a point of view and having a sense of curiosity.

But that natural desire to be the ultra-competent one has its drawbacks. It can mean that when there’s a problem to be solved or a challenge to be met, you want to be the one with the answers, not the questions. But sometimes asking the right question is just the thing to sharpen and shape your idea.

The key is to strike a balance between showing a point of view and having a sense of curiosity. Let’s say you’ve noticed that sales on a particular product line are down. You’ve got some ideas on how to tweak that product to help make it shine again. But before you unleash...

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