Asking Better Questions

Asking good questions especially of a technology or innovation function is essential to being a good manager. As managers rise in an organization, they often find themselves having to make decisions with only a superficial grasp of the underlying technologies or capabilities. In situations like this, they first need to recognize their own lack of understanding and then be able to ask questions that, in order to learn, reveal their ignorance. This can be threatening. Often there is an embarrassingly simple answer to a naive question that you ask; at other times, the seemingly simple question opens up new avenues for discussion that can lead to better decisions.