Legal Research

"It doesn't hurt to ask."

Really? I think that Seth Godin hit the nail on the head with this posting to his blog:

>"It doesn't hurt to ask"strong> by Seth Godin

"Actually, it does hurt. It does hurt to ask the wrong way, to ask without preparation, to ask without permission. It hurts because you never get another chance to ask right."

When was the last time someone said this in a meeting? Too often for my liking.

The real question is "What is the best way to ask for this? What strategy should we use? Who is the best person to ask? How should we ask? etc.

This is the difference between getting what you want and need (budget, staff resources, etc.) and not.

I know I often have people tell me that they already asked for XYZ from administration and didn't get it last year or another time. I ask how XYZ was asked for. I've heard everything from casual hallway conversations to requests hidden in memoes or budget docs. If you're not getting what you want and need, maybe it's time to change the asking strategy.

It might hurt. It also might work.

Stephen

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on May 27, 2009 (boomark / email).