Why do we ask questions?

Why is it so hard to ask a damn question?

Any university instructor knows this dance: You ask, “Are there any questions?” and are met with absolute silence. “Of course not...” you mutter to yourself. Then, filing out of class, they queue up to quietly whisper their genius queries—the ones that would have burst the roof and let light of their brilliance shine upon the whole class.

Students fail to ask questions because they’re afraid to 1. look smart or 2. look dumb. But what happens when they—and you— hoard their question, they not only rob themselves of the answer, they rob everyone else who holds that same question. In the particular lies the universal, right? YOUR question is the same as everyone else’s—there’s a freedom in that. We need to feel free to share our communal ignorance and bask in each other’s wealth.

I realized that if I wanted to be an effective teacher, I had to give my students that freedom and for them to feel confident to get what they needed from me—and the world—by asking questions.

Don’t follow me, I’m lost too…

We ask questions for lots of reasons.

We’re lost.

We need to know that we are not standing alone in the reeds, but that we can always find our way back to shore. We want the security that our tools will provide for us, and we want to know that we can always rely on our creativity. And should we stray too far, we want to know others will come to our aid.

We’re uncomfortable.

We ask because we’re uncomfortable. And uncomfortable is part of the process! We have to be cool in not knowing the future and “live the questions” as Rilke urges us. If we’re consistent and stay with the questions, we’ll find our answers.

We’re stuck. 

We want to move ahead but don’t know how. We want steps 4 and 5 and 7, but have not taken steps 1 or 2 yet. Sharing our frustration through questions helps us reset and find our way.

We wanna learn. 

How do you do this or that? What tool are you using? Why do my weld joints suck? We want all the details of making our daily bread. Questions help us to improve our work and performance and adjust our thinking.

We want the fast track. 

And questions are how to get there. Through asking, we can find what the missing pieces are, the traps to avoid and how to get out of jail free and collect $200.

Keep going! 

Questions maintain our momentum. They provide the daily and weekly boosts needed to keep our traction so we can feel confident about our progress.

I like questions.

I feel confident asking them and comfortable answering them. I even sit and ask my question questions. In the process of trying to understand, I may find the right question that changes my perspective and switches all the lights on.

The key is finding the right questions—the ones that change our perspective and help set us free.

And that’s what we do every week on our podcast, The Right Questions. We answer your questions, help you get paid to do what you love, AND stay sane in the process.

In our first episode, we talk about how to get started. Next up: how to find balance.

Join us for your weekly dose of creative encouragement.