I realized just now that the reason people believe I am smart is that they rarely see me displaying my ignorance. I always perform as much of a search on a subject as I can before requesting another person's aid.
All of this can be traced back to when I was five.
It was time for school, and as usual I couldn't find my shoes. It's not that we lived in an unclean house, it's just that I had a habit of tossing them somewhere as soon as I got home. I yelled with all my five year old frustration, "I can't find my shoes!" To which my mother promptly responded "That's because you're looking with your mouth." And demonstrated by showing me my shoes were out in plain sight.
Now you might be tempted to think that it was from this that I learned the lesson to look first. If you think that you have never had children. This story repeated for months, sometimes the subject matter changed, it moved from shoes to toys to sweaters. But the refrain remained the same.
My poor haggard mother forced me to learn by modifying her catch-phrase. Moving to "You're looking with your mouth, and if I come in there and find them I'm going to swat your butt". Genius that my mother is she realized that I hated to be punished (even though her swats had stopped hurting when I was 6). So I learned to look exhaustively before ever requesting aid.
This is not just a skill to prevent your girlfriend from getting annoyed when you ask where the remote is. Very often the information other people give us is incomplete, but before you go back to get clarification give it a go. Other people are always impressed to know you tried and can show where you looked before bothering them. Imagine how often you've asked your boss "How do I do this?" Only to have him point you to the email he sent you when you started the project.
Sometimes there are things you just couldn't know, but you'd be amazed what you can find (or do) if you force yourself to look. You'd be even more amazed to find the number of things you can figure out all on your own if you try to do everything yourself first. Just imagine how smart you'll look when you figure out everything (including how to do things simpler), and begin doing things better than your boss.
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2 comments:
I think wasting time and effort is worse than appearing ignorant.
Struggling to do something for an hour before you ask a question that only takes 5 seconds to answer means that hour of time was wasted just to avoid the chance that you might possibly look dumb.
My time and effort is far more valuable to me than what someone else might think; effort expended in vain is morally unacceptable.
Love, Mom
Mom,
I can see your point, but that attitude is very passive and assumes something that you shouldn't: That your boss is right!
Very often cultures (especially corporate ones) develop convoluted, complicated methods of doing things. I feel these evolve because no one stops and says, "Why are we doing this?". Engaging your brain first helps lead you out of those preconceived notions.
I was talking recently with a friend and he suggested that were he to own a company each new person he brought in would be required to fill out "problems" they saw with the business. This could include things like out-dated processes or things that were done better at other places of employment. Everyone feels those things but they just ignore the nagging feelings that there are better ways to do things. I say harness them, display them.
Don't do things the same way. Ask for clarification if your boss is the right person to get it from, but not before you put your mind to your task.
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