How Well Do You Know That?

By Pat Ferdinandi

The most important skill that every technologist (across all specialties) needs to excel is asking questions. You can ask yourself questions, such as "Why is this working this way?" or you can ask questions to obtain information from vendors, business community, colleagues, etc. It is important to ask questions to learn...not to show off what you already know.

So many times I've witnessed technologists too busy to show off their knowledge that they shut down the very person they need to hear. What a shame. A wise person only becomes wiser if they keep learning different ways to use the information they have. The smarter the individual, the more he or she realizes how much he or she does NOT know or understand.

I've quoted Jeffrey Gitomer many times in these columns. He has a saying with which he starts every seminar (and I've attended a few): "I don't care if you know that already. Ask yourself, How good are you at it?" This simple phrase switches your mindset from a closed mind (clogging your filters to new information) to being an active listener seeking additional information.

Asking questions is the first step to gathering information...basic information. Technologists are taught to gather basic information through the six W's questions. That is because basic information represents the six W's (who, what, where, when why and how). Constraints are captured next...the plus 2. These additional two categories of information pertain to constraints (project constraints and product constraints). Many successful systems have been built by capturing this first level of information. That is where many technologists stop because it builds "good enough" systems.

Less experienced technologists go for the plain facts. They ask the basic questions that provide information that fits in the basic framework to build systems without thought or risk...the six W's plus 2. The less experienced looks for bare details. This is why many less experienced technologists tend to fall in the trap of saying, "I know that already" instead of "how well do I know this."

Information that sparks new and exciting ideas is gathered from wisdom. Wisdom is the experience and perception of information and the perceived value of the information by the one that owns the information. These intangibles can only be learned by those that have delved into the situation, studied it, experienced it, failed from it, and succeeded from it. It is hard to capture because people (business and technologists) rarely share wisdom. Why? They are rarely asked for it.

All it would take is a simple rephrasing of any question to receive wisdom instead of simple facts. All it would take is to add a few words in front of any question to hear not only the basic information but the wisdom the information has to offer. What is that simple phrase?

What has been your experience...

Simple. True. What this simple rephrasing does is provide an opening for people to provide their perceived value of the information. It provides an opportunity for the person to share one's experience, views, and lessons learned. It opens the door of communication to hear wisdom from those that have learned from experience.

What's in it for you...

By adding that simple phrase at some point in the discussion (preferably in the discussion than late), you are illustrating trust and value. You trust the person enough to provide wisdom. You value his or her input and knowledge. This not only provides a means to obtain better understanding, a different perspective than your own; it more importantly builds a stronger relationship...a relationship that can lead to more opportunities for you in the future.

I recently read a quote from Steven Quartz of the California Institute of Technology.

"Our brain is computing value at every fraction of a second. Everything that we look at, we form an implicit preference. Some of those make it into our awareness; some of them remain at the level of our unconscious, but... what our brain is for, what our brain has evolved for, is to find what is of value in our environment."

If you are determining value, you are judging. More often than not, we tend to judge things in a negative light. Do we agree or disagree with what we are hearing? By asking, "What has been your experience..." we delay that judgment. We are waiting to hear the entire story. We are open to more than just the words but add in from another's perspective. We then evaluate what we heard to our own knowledge and perspective.

In most cases, the business does see things differently and will express that difference. By hearing the entire story, we can see where our perspective and understanding differed. It is easier to put ourselves in the other persons shoes (as the old expression goes) and see the gap in either our understanding, the gap in what we were trying to achieve, and the starting point to take the next step.

The core of these eZines is to build better relationships with the business community. When a business person is asked for his or her experience, he or she feels wise. He or she feels trusted. He or she will share more information. Isn't that the goal of asking questions? Isn't the goal to find out as much information as possible before building?

Asking for wisdom makes you look smarter as well. The business person appreciates the time you will take to listen to his or her perspective and knowledge. You are viewed as someone that knows that it is impossible to know it all and that you are willing to search for different perspectives and information. This never weakens you...it strengthens you.

Ask for wisdom from your business community

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