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I have been an editor of various products and formats for over 30 years
working in the fields of statistics, occupational health, financial
regulation and consumer protection.
Well into my career the issue of asking "the stupid" question has still been
an issue for me when I have found something that doesn't seem to fit the
assumptions and pictures I had drawn about subject matter with which I had
no real expertise. In deciding how to ask such questions I have always
tried to briefly tell them why I have asked this question. This is because
sometimes when you ask a question you have the right observations but the
wrong question. If I am on the track of an error then explaining my reasons
for asking helps them think about why I am questioning them.
In those 30 years I have made about 6 significant finds in the work I have
edited. By this I mean I have found this number of serious errors , made by
subject matter experts. This may not seem like many finds but there have
been 3 major outcomes from my questioning:
1 the subject matter officer has been saved from huge embarrassment
2 the organisation has been saved from huge embarrassment and cost in
reprints
3 I earned respect and acknowledgment from the subject matter officer
That said when I have had to ask "the question" i have usually prefaced with
an explanation that this might be a silly question but I just can't
understand why.... While I found 6 serious problems I should mention that
these were in fact the only questions that I ever asked that I thought were
stupid or basic. To me I got a 100% success but that does not mean that the
authors didn't think some other questions were stupid! There is too much at
stake not to ask.
Irene Wong
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 2:06 PM
To: "TECHWR-L list" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Subject: Re: Coaching less experienced folks on asking good questions
They both have the same objective, which is to help the uninitiated avoid
asking questions that will be considered "stupid" by people who are less
likely to be helpful if those kinds of questions are asked of them.
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