There’s no such thing as a stupid ...

There’s no such thing as a stupid question. Actually, there is.

We’ve all been in meetings, trying to solve a problem when someone asks a stupid question, or presents an equally stupid idea.

And then you end up wasting an enormous amount of time discussing the stupid question/idea.

Like cats chasing their tails.

What’s worse is when people rally around the question/idea and make equally stupid decisions. Groupthink.

Almost 100% of the time, the time wasting question-asker (is that a word?) didn’t take the time to vet their question/idea before they presented them.

It just came into their head and they vomited it right out of their mouth all over everybody. They were too lazy to vet it, FIRST.

In my meetings, we have a rule.

Ask any question. Present any idea. Just frame it with a warning …

- as fully vetted
- partially vetted
- totally unvetted

Then we all know what we're dealing with.

Sometimes great discoveries are made and these questions/ideas lead to great things.

I’ve learned the most dangerous person in an organization is an amateur posing as an expert. It always leads to business killing actions.

Groupthink is a killer. You find out later when it's too late. (think mask, covid, defund the PoPo, etc...)

-Gerald