Asking more questions



Why don't we ask more questions? Or maybe you do, but I should ask more questions.
Recently I encountered a problem I couldn't solved. So I reached out to colleagues to understand if they had answers. They didn't.

Then I thought: should I post my question on Yammer or Twitter? Yammer could work but I had basically already asked the relevant experts within the company so I thought that would be a waste of time. Then Twitter maybe? To be honest, I find the engagement on Twitter pretty low. When I started using Twitter asking a question could get you lots of answers. Now Twitter is more of an update platform and less of a question platform. At least that's how I see myself and others using it.

Well, then I thought I'd post my question on Quora. Good 'old' Quora. I've always loved Quora. A very focused and smart platform with lots of people just waiting to answer your question. And Quora suggests potentially relevant people from your network and outside of it, that could answer your question. And again, Quora saved the day. Or actually the great people on Quora did. I posted my question and just minutes later I got a first answer. Someone who was connected to someone deep inside an organization that could answer my question. And within days the problem was solved.

Reflecting on this I wondered: why didn't I just ask the question on Quora right away? Is it just easier to start with your network and colleagues? Or is something deeper going on here? Am I not sharing the question because I don't want to admit too openly I don't know the answer? I'm not sure what the real reason is to be honest. But what I do know is that asking questions in certain contexts can be seen as being dumb or lazy. I've worked in those kinds of environments and this culture does stick to you. I'm curious what you think of this.

Anyway, next time I think I will post my question on Quora right away. I think I'll just ask the question to different online and offline networks at once. Do you think that's a good approach? Or is that too much? Let's discuss!

[Source of this blog post's image]

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