In
This Issue…
-
Why
Are Kids So Smart?
-
Tip: Ask
More Questions
-
Humour:
Dealing with Children
===================
Why
Are Kids So Smart?
===================
There's
a television show called, "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth
Grader?"
On
it, adults are contestants, and they are asked questions
from grades 1
to
5, and then are challenged to come up with answers. To
help the
contestants,
there are a few 5th grade students available.
While
you would think that most adults should be able to answer
anything
from
earlier years, none of the contestants ever make it to the
11th question.
Most
contestants don't get above the grade 3 level.
It
seems to exemplify two things:
Kids
are pretty smart
Adults
are pretty stupid
Why
are the kids so smart?
Children
do one thing that most adults don't -- they ask questions.
In fact,
they
ask a lot of questions.
What's
an eclipse?
Why
is Aunt Sally so angry?
How
do you know there's nothing under my bed?
Can
we go get ice cream again?
Where
is Greece?
Can
we go get ice cream again?
As
we mature, we're supposed to know the answers, or we're
supposed
to
know what questions not to ask.
So
our curiosity dims as we learn more.
This
seems counter-intuitive. It seems that as we grow, and
learn
about
more subject areas, we should continue to ask more and more
questions.
Instead,
people's curiosity wanes. Been there. Done that.
Don't even
go
there.
This
translates to the workplace.
Employees
don't want to question policies. At my first few jobs,
I would
ask
a lot of questions about processes and policies. The
two most
frequent
responses to, "Why do we do it that way?", were:
1)
I don't know
2)
Because that's the way it's always been done
We
live in a constant state of change, but many people believe
the
answers
to their questions will remain the same. So they stop
asking.
When
people in organizations stop asking questions, opportunity
for growth is
reduced.
In
order for organizations to grow, they need to ask a lot of
questions.
Product
development people should be asking, "What are the
customers
looking
for?"
Sales
people should be asking, "What are your
objectives?"
Marketing
people should be asking, "What campaigns are working,
and why?"
Policy
makers should be asking, "What has been effective in
the past,
and
why?"
Customer
service people should be asking, "Are we effectively
meeting
customer needs?"
etc.
etc.
Even
when you've been in the same role for a long time, the
questions should not
cease.
=======================
Tip: Ask
More Questions
======================
If
no one ever questions policies, procedures and processes,
then the company will
not change with the times -- until they're forced to.
External
circumstances are changing and evolving. If no one
wants to change internal
policies, then the policies will eventually become
obscelescent.
Don't
get me wrong -- most policies are good. Businesses
continue to move forward
because their policies are working. But everything has
room for improvement.
And in order to be proactive, you should be initiating
change, rather
than being a victim of change.
In
order to be the most effective, ask questions on a
continual, periodic basis. Here's
a great process to get you started:
1.
The first day of the month, look at one of the policies/
procedures/ processes you either
follow, or are responsible for.
2.
Ask yourself, "Does this policy make sense? If we
were starting from scratch, is
this the policy we would be following? What objectives
is this policy trying to achieve,
and is it achieving those objectives?"
3.
Ask the same questions to others in your department.
4.
After two or three months, take a broader view and select a
policy that involves your
department and a larger department.
5.
Expand and contract your view on a regular basis.
Of
course, you should feel free to take this a step or two
further. Ask customers what
they're happy with. Ask non-customers why they didn't
choose you. Ask prospects
what they're looking for. Ask co-workers what they
think the company could
do to improve. Ask peers at other companies what their
best practices are.
What
is the secret to business success?
Questions
are the answer.
==============================
Humour:
Dealing with Children
=============================
" Adults
are always asking
little kids what they want to be when they grow up 'cause
they're
looking for ideas."
... Paula
Poundstone
=============
Questions
============
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==============
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=============
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