You know that classic maxim, ‘There’s no such thing as a stupid question’; or its close cousin, ‘The only dumb question is the one that you don’t ask?’
I am here to tell you both these old chestnuts are themselves stupid, and that there are absolutely all manner of stupid questions, and that countless stupid questions are asked every day in the workplace – by you, your staff, your leaders, pretty much everyone. In fact, the entire belief system empowered by ‘There’s no such thing as a stupid question’, is nothing short of a massive cop-out, abrogation, and dereliction of the responsibility to do any real thinking, or to take five minutes and at least ask Google for the answer.
Stupid workplace questions abound, and they are not just limited to questions that have obvious answers like ‘Does the company’s new tobacco-free workplace policy apply to marijuana as well?’ or the one from the recently terminated Account Executive who asks ‘How can you fire me when there was nothing in the offer letter that said I had to sell anything?’
I’ll give you three easy examples in the ‘Workplace Stupid Question’ library, please do take a minute and add some of your favorites in the comments.
Workplace Stupid Question #1 – Typically asked by overeager veteran HR pros, (often with a little prompting from power-mad IT geeks)
Should we craft a new HR policy to address the proper and approved use or strategy to restrict use of new fancy technology website/gadget/concept that 20 minutes ago we did not know existed (or two years ago in the case of parent of teenagers)?
This question is stupid. The answer is no. Of course you already knew that, which is why the question is stupid.
Workplace Stupid Question #2 – Typically asked by sketchy looking dudes from the loading dock, or C-suite executives from giant technology companies:
I don’t see that (insert clearly inappropriate in civil society behavior of your choice here) is specifically addressed in the employee handbook, how can you tell me it is not allowed?
This question is stupid. And the fact that it is asked in one form or another of HR professionals every day, sometimes multiple times a day, does not make it any less stupid. Most of us spend the first half or so of our lives being told not to do stupid things (even if they had not been previously explicitly forbidden); and the second half of our lives giving other people (kids, employees, blog readers), the same advice.
You know better. I know better. Everyone knows better. Stop asking.
Workplace Stupid Question #3 - Typically asked by the Party Planning Committee and the Committee to Plan Parties
Should we serve alcohol at the company holiday party?
This question is stupid. It falls into the category of ‘we have been through this so many times as a collective species, how can you not have yet sorted this out’. No doubt this question is still being asked. This week here Tim Sackett here on Fistful of Talent, and Laurie Ruettimann on The Cynical Girl both addressed the question. This question is stupid. There are millions of organizations/companies/institutions in this country. Many, if not most of them, have been staging holiday parties for years and years. There have probably been about 517,489,623 ‘company’ holiday parties thrown to date. Chances are you have been to one. If you haven’t yet figured out the answer to this question yet, you likely have some bigger problems.
The litmus test for most workplace and life decisions, ‘Is this stupid?’, applies to most workplace conundrums. It applies to most simple questions as well. There are indeed stupid questions. Quit asking them and you’ll be ahead of 95% of your competition.
Now as to the question of whether or not there are stupid blog posts, I will leave that to you, loyal readers, to decide.
stupid question: does this dress fall within our workplace casual code? while i’m asking, do you think my breasts look good in it?
happy friday.
f
Do these pants make my butt look big?
@fran – Yes. And I imagine yes again.
@Dave – Definitely yes.
LOL….i needed a laugh today, thank you so much. How about the IT guy asking HR “should we craft a policy about the new phone system we’ve just installed and what features we don’t want employees to use?” Really, are you kidding me…and I’ll leave it at that.
Hi Steve,
Maybe I’m too serious for FOT. While I enjoy your blog post because of it’s humor, I find myself going beyond that. The examples you raise are “stupid questions” or are at least questions that don’t need to be asked of HR Pros or leadership folks. Some folks though are new to an organization or the workforce and may want to make sure of the culture before they break any of the unwritten rules. Better to ask I think. Some folks really do ask sincerely, even if at times the questions seem/are “stupid.” It’s not always just about seeing how far things can be pushed, or never wanting to give in.
Also, the old chestnuts may be more about stating the ground rules than about the specific questions asked. The over statement — “no stupid . . .” or the “only stupid” — define a culture where questions or points of view that may be different are OK. This is probably a good thing, especially when it’s more than an old chestnut and is descriptive of reality.
Your blog post may set the expectation that the only feedback or questions that you’ll accept are those that are in the form of laughing with you and agreeing with you. Anything else is probably stupid. Probably not what you mean, but then again . . .
Bruce Kestelman, Leader/Consultant in Organization Development and Coaching, Architect of Great Work Places and Customer Experiences
@Jody – Thanks very much, another classic example
@Bruce – Thanks for your comments. Sure, I agree there are times, especially for new people in an organization, that many ‘stupid’ or obvious questions should really be asked, instead of just guessed at. I suppose I was not really thinking about the new hire or acclimation process when I wrote the post. I am not trying to say everyone needs to agree with me at all. In fact on the ‘Alcohol at the company party’ question, I think ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are both valid answers, the right one depends on your unique set of circumstances. The point was more you should be able to figure this out more or less on your own. Anyway, thanks again for reading, perhaps as I suggested, the post itself was stupid.
Hey Steve. Perhaps HR departments need to publish FASQ lists to help new employees and beyond new employees who engage in brain cell killing behavior.
Hi Steve, Thanks for taking the time for the thoughtful reply and no, at least I don’t think the post was stupid. Funny, maybe, at least one person is LOL, stupid, not so much. You got a good dialogue going, and isn’t that what’s this all about?
Bruce
“Should I quit my job if I don’t have another one lined up?”
@Mike – That would be fantastic. ‘Please refer to the FASQ’s for your answer’
@Bruce – Thanks and I appreciate the conversation as well.
@Laurie – Yes, super plan. Or a better one may be to flame your boss on Facebook first and see if anyone notices.
Steve,
I agree that that believing “there is no such thing as a stupid question” gives far too many stupid questions a seat at the table. So, for the policy inclined, perhaps every employee handbook should have a policy to ask Google for the answer before speaking potentially stupid questions aloud in meetings… you know, as long as you don’t have a policy about not using your smartphone during meetings.
I’ve often said “There is no such thing as a stupid question, just stupid people who ask questions.”