Legal Research

"Underrated Career Skill: Asking Questions"

Posted by Penelope Trunk: "It might be that the only useful thing you ever learned in school (besides how to make small talk at a party) is how to ask a good question.

Most of us didn't learn that, though. Because it's so hard to teach. I know it's really hard to teach because people with Asperger Syndrome don't understand how to ask a question, and I watched speech therapists (pragmatics specialists) try to teach my son, while I took notes for myself.

Children with Asperger's often have to learn when to use Why, What, and Where because they don't know how to ask questions, even though they often have through-the-roof IQs. They actually seem mentally slow because they cannot learn as fast as other children due to the lack of good questions - which is a great illustration of how important asking questions is.

I will answer almost any question someone asks, which makes me better at asking questions myself, but I am also very conscious of the fact that most questions people ask me are terrible.

So here are tips on how to ask good questions.

1. Trust that people are interesting...

2. Use a therapist to teach you to ask questions...

3. Recognize questions that are hard for you but easy for everyone else...

4. Match the right question to the right person...

5. A question you never think of is one of the best surprises of all...

So here's a question for today: We know that women get more interviews if the name on their resume sounds male. (Here's one of a bazillion studies.) And we know that people do better in their careers if they are honest about who they are. (This applies to both your name and your sex orientation.) But here's something I never thought of: What would it be like to pretend to be a man at work?"

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist, 15 December 2009

Full post as published by Stark County Law Library Blawg on December 16, 2009 (boomark / email).