The Warrioresses Speak: Issue 2

Greetings everyone! Here is the question of the day...did you know that asking questions demonstrates how smart you are? Yes, I know that this sounds astonishing to some people, but it is true. Stay tuned, and we will tell you how.

I know a few people, both men and women, who seem convinced that it is much more wise to pretend to know an answer instead of asking pertinent questions. There are many people who believe that they appear ignorant and weak if they do not know the answer to a question, or they try to dramatically demonstrate their intelligence in a boisterous manner, for all the World to see! Their attitudes scream out "See me! Here here, See Me! Know that I am in charge! Know that I have All of the answers!"

The truth is that ignorance shows through such posturing. There in nothing wrong with ignorance, but there is Everything wrong with pretending to be competent when one is ignorant. I have noticed that a lot of young people who are Brand new to a work environment, will often come onto the scene with an attitude that they are in charge. I have even seen such young people try to order around those with many years of experience. This is the height of foolishness, and such behavior is guaranteed to demonstrate one's lack of experience more than anything else.

This scenario was even demonstrated on the popular television show Bones. I did not see the entire story arc, so my full knowledge of how the story progressed is limited (see how I did that? I didn't know everything about that, so I just admitted it), but there was a new anthropologist in the lab, and she was constantly trying to make the head anthropologist look foolish. She tried to make the mistakes of the leader paramount, and thereby heighten her own abilities in the eyes of others. Foolishness incarnate.

I once knew an old combat veteran. He told me that while he was in the field, everyone tended to follow the advice of the sergeant instead of the lieutenant because the sergeant had seen more and knew more. The interesting thing about it is that the lieutenant knew that the sergeant's advice carried the weight of more experience, and the lieutenant didn't even mind this, as long as the chain of command was respected. The sergeant saved them all, advising that they sleep camouflaged under the sands of a nearby beach instead of in the jungle. The jungle was bombed that night. The lieutenant respected the sergeant, and everyone lived because of it. The sergeant respected the lieutenant's rank, and the lieutenant respected the sergeant's experience.

Personally, I have never minded asking questions when I do not know the answer. My experience has been that most people respect my authority even more because of this. The simple fact is that your intelligence demonstrates itself! You do not need to emphasize it to get respect. This is a loosing strategy. You should assume that your colleagues are at least as intelligent as you are. This posture commands respect, and when they see you instantly use the knowledge that you have gained from a question to which you have just uncovered the answer, they will know that it is your ability to think on your feet that make you capable and worthy of following. All that pretending to know and posturing to look important is for the foolish, and for those who are uninitiated in the fabulous blessings of common sense!

Thank you.