Stop Asking "How Should I... ?"
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Thu, Dec 02, 2010 @ 07:15 AM
If you ever catch yourself going to your boss and asking, "How should I...?" stop, turn around, and take another look at your project. (I've recently become addicted to Harvard Business Review, and) I loved this article for articulating something I try to remind myself and my coworkers:
It's better to be wrong than passive.
Coming up with your own opinion and sharing that publicly can be tough and scary, espcially if you're new to your job or project. But it is always better to do the work and share your way to attack a problem rather than go to your boss or other more experienced coworker for the answer. Here's 4 whopping reasons why:
1. Asking "How Should I... ?" is Asking to Be Micromanaged. Personally, I hate being micromanaged. But going to someone else and asking them how to execute on your project is asking them to micromanage your completion of that project. Why bring that on yourself? Come up with your way of approaching your project and start executing on it.
2. Proposing Your Solution Gets You Better Advice and Feedback. Asking "How should I... ?" is asking the person to do the legwork of researching the project, people, situation, etc. all from scratch. The HBR article author gives a great example of someone coming not with a "How should I... ?" question but rather a "Here's my proposal, what do you think?" question. This latter question actually gets you more personalized and constructive feedback on how to improve on your proposal.
3. Exercise Your Brain, Show Your Smarts, and Learn. Asking "How should I... ?" sounds like you're asking someone else to do your work, especially the difficult thinking part. Force yourself to exercise your brain, and then use your time with your boss to show your smarts and get constructive feedback. Even if your approach has flaws or needs to be totally scrapped, you've at least learned from the process and shown that you are thinking about your job.
4. Don't Wait, Make Progress. The classic saying is "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission." Relying on someone else to tell you how to execute on your project only holds you up. If you want to make progress, don't wait, start now. If you do something wrong, fine, you'll fix it. And if you do something right, great, you've made progress.
It can be difficult, yes, but don't let that stop you from coming up with and sharing your own ideas.