I ask lots of stupid questions. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I’m quite good at asking stupid questions.
Now, this might not sound like anything to be proud of, or a skill that most people would aspire to, but in the world of process discovery and improvement, it’s a handy ‘talent’ to have.
When trying to understand how a process works or where improvement opportunities exist, I need to ensure that I have the full picture. This will sometimes involve asking questions like “Why do you do it that way?”, “What do you do when an event doesn’t happen?”, “Why is that step needed?”. These questions are frequently met with the response “I wondered that myself but didn’t like to ask as I thought it was a stupid question”.
It’s much easier to ask those questions when you’re not living the process everyday. It’s how an independent perspective helps to create a different view of the accepted facts. Those stupid questions help to flush out where gaps exist, where there is a lack of understanding as to why certain steps are needed, where the “We’ve always done it this way” ways of working exist. This all helps to form the full picture of the current process and allow the issues to be uncovered. Once they’re uncovered they can start to be addressed.
What unusual ‘skills’ do you use in your work?
If you’d like me to ask some stupid questions to help your business to reduce costs, save time or grow faster then drop me a line!