Growing up, I had this thing about myself that wouldn’t allow me to ask questions. I guess you can say I had too much pride to ask. If I was in school and it was something I couldn’t figure out, essentially I wouldn’t raise my hand.

Instead I’d muddle over the problem, turning it over in my head until I figured it out. I’d read over the material until the answer jumped off the page. Once I got it, of course, I’d celebrate to myself. And so guess what, this behavior or characteristic continued until I became an adult. This is where it had to stop.

Adulting became my new challenge. This included trying to figure life out to include personal challenges, workplace challenges, church, kid’s schooling, other folks kids, neighbors, ALL of it. Since my concerns got more broader than a pop quiz, it became imperative that I started to seek help. I could either sink or swim.

I essentially had to learn to put my pride to the side to better handle my business. So today, I never hesitate to ask questions. You hear me…NEVER. Hell you may even get sick of me asking questions if you are around me. But trust I’m asking until I understand.

As a manager, I’m even going to call a meeting to better my understanding. This has become my niche in the workplace actually. Well it works in my advantage as I’m able to get further along and able to handle problems far better with a group than solo. Teamwork is what it is called in case you are like my old self with dreading working as a team and prefers independent working.

Question. Have you ever worked with someone that didn’t seem motivated at work or someone you had to cover for on assignments? Or maybe you have to constantly repeat procedures? Well using this as my example, as your relationship with this employee unfolds in front of others, onlookers sense or experience the aggravation you express with that co-worker. And if we aren’t careful, this interaction will be frequently emulated.

As a result, subconsciously you expressed your dislikes for that co-worker. This aggravation becomes part of the workplace culture. Let me extrapolate. When new people are hired, often times seasoned employees question their credibility to get the job done. So if the newbie ask questions, the rumor mill will have it that the newbie doesn’t know the job they were hired for.

If the newbie gets wind of their credibility being questioned or they assume it, chances are great that they will NOT ask for help. From that point forward, they will be hesitant to ask questions. Let’s say they ask a question and the response is, “you don’t know?” As simple as that sounds, it could lead the newbie feeling unwelcome, causing them to refrain from asking anything else…EVER.

Let’s say this trend continues but now the newbie isn’t so new anymore. They may have learned a lot on their own. But there will be plenty of things they don’t know because they wouldn’t ask. And they may very well treat the next newbie the way they were treated. Now this is the office norm.

This is also where I sense a lot of offices may be operating. I’m not saying everyone is in such an environment but I do believe are. And if this describes your office atmosphere, I’m willing to bet creativity is limited, most accomplishments are status quo, any change is met with hostility, and hence, employees are not motivated to give their best efforts.

If this is your workplace environment, I encourage you to be the change agent. And this can be simply done with asking questions. Ask all the questions. Encourage others to ask questions and provide them with not only the answer but share with them where they can find it next time or how you derived at it.

I’m an open book for anyone and everyone. Even if I don’t know the answer, I’ll often help the requester get to the answer or the person who can assist them. I’m a believer that if we want to foster an environment of learning and creativity, we have to create it. It starts with us. Be the change. Ask the question.

Thanks for your attention. Remember you are your own competition.

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