LIBRARY OF USEFUL BUSINESS ARTICLES AND LINKS

03 - I Can’t Believe You Asked That!

Excerpted from Business Black Belt by Burke Franklin

You can ask or say just about anything as long as your motive is clean.

Asking the right questions is the key to getting the most useful information and validating assumptions. First, let’s identify a simple problem most of us are afflicted with: the need to be polite. When I was a little boy, my grandmother told me that there are three things you never ask a woman:

1) how old are you?
2) how much do you weigh?
3) how much money do you have?

I learned then that you never ask people certain questions. Of course, these became the three most important things I wanted to know. The subject probably surfaced when I asked one of my parents’ friends how much she weighed. She must have been huge and I just wanted to know... (It’s amusing how kids have no problem asking questions, until they get the idea that it’s bad.) We grow up learning that there are questions you don’t ask and things you don’t talk about. In fact, over time you learn that you’re better off not asking any questions at all for fear of making a mistake, committing some kind of social faux pas, or causing an embarrassing situation.

In business, the inability to ask probing questions can kill you if you don’t ask crucial questions for fear of offending someone. You really have to ask the kind of questions that may seem offensive or distrusting:

“What’s your experience on this project?”
“How do I know you can come through?”
“What is it about your experience that makes you the best person for this project?”
“How can you prove to me that you know what you’re doing?”

When I was hired at The Sharper Image to be the electronics buyer, I had to prove that I had a sense of what would sell. The VP of Merchandising simply handed me a copy of the catalog and asked me to look through it and guess what sold. He had the sales reports so he knew exactly, but all I had were my instincts. There was no bluffing here—either I had a feeling for it or I didn’t. He was making an important hiring decision and couldn’t afford to fool around. As it turned out, my guesses were very accurate and I even singled out the worst selling item in the catalog. I passed the test and got the job. If your prospective employee is for real, he or she won’t have any trouble answering tough questions.

“Have you done this project somewhere else and been successful?”
“Who can I call as a reference for you?”
“What happens if you die?” (I ask this of contractors.)

That last one usually draws the response “Why are you asking me that?” Here’s my reason: We were using an accounting software package and, while waiting for version 2.0 to be released, the programmer dropped dead of a brain aneurysm at his desk. No one else knew how to complete the project! Now I always ask, “What happens if you die?” We even include provisions for death in some of our contracts.

They may seem like questions you’re asking because you don’t trust the person, but you still need to ask these questions to fill in the background. Plus, you want to hear how someone else answers—so you’re not specifying how you want something done.

If you have a problem or an interesting project, ask someone how he or she would handle it without your direction. Get a feeling for how the person would do things if you weren’t there watching or giving direction. (Remember: The idea is to someday be at the beach while other people are managing your business the way you would, or better!)

If we’re afraid to ask questions, we end up making assumptions. You have probably already heard that, to ASSUME means to make an ASS out of U and ME.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary:
as•sump•tion (a-sump’-shun) n.
1. The act of taking to or upon oneself.
2. The act of taking over.
3. The act of taking for granted.
4. Something taken for granted or accepted as true without proof; a supposition.
5. Presumption; arrogance.

I hate it when I make a deal with or hire someone only to find out that their work ethic or sense of quality isn’t even close to mine. Now I ask beforehand, “What’s your motivation on this project? What does a good job look like to you? What will this look like when it is complete?”

An assumption is a thought about the way something is or what someone thinks without any specific evidence. The trick is to recognize an assumption when you make one. Ask yourself if a fact has been specifically stated or specifically written somewhere. If not, you’ll go off half-cocked thinking a certain way. This is dangerous, but you have a simple way out. When you find yourself making an assumption, stop and turn the assumption into a question. (“I’m assuming you will build this gizmo using 4130 Chromoly steel, is that right?”) That way, you’re not mistaking an assumption for something real.

If the assumptions are wrong, all that follows is wrong.
— Mark Affleck, author & business consultant

What do you mean by that?
My favorite question to ask is: “What do you mean by that?” We all use the same words, but sometimes with different meanings behind them, especially when somebody uses a 'three-dollar' word. The person may sound very intelligent, but I’m not really sure he or she even understands what the word means. Maybe the word stands for definition number one in Webster’s Dictionary, and I’m thinking of definition number two or three. What does he or she mean by that word in the context of our conversation?

Take for example, the word "cost." A friend of mine told me, “I bought this at cost.” I wondered, whose cost? The manufacturer’s cost? The distributor’s cost? The retailer’s cost? What does cost really mean here? There are many price points and middle parties in the product chain, so what price and cost are we talking about here?

In business, I believe that just about any question goes, except, of course, the illegal questions that you can’t ask in interviews. But when talking about how you’re going to do something with a contractor, partner, whomever, you need to ask a lot of questions.

You might want to ask someone, “How do you make your money on this?” It’s amazing how people find ways to make money or make deals that will generate income in different ways for different parts of their business. In a business deal with someone, this question is very appropriate. You want to know what someone is going to do or how he or she will respond in a particular situation.

It all has to do with where your question is coming from. If you really want to know because you find it interesting or the knowledge would be useful, that’s OK. Avoid asking questions just to make someone look bad or to embarrass them. Use that as your gauge to know if your question is appropriate or not. You can ask or say just about anything as long as your motive is clean.

Business Black Belt Notes

If you need to know, you must ask the question.

Use assumptions—yours and theirs—as the basis for your questions.

If you’ve got a question, go ahead and ask it.

Click here to learn more about Business Black Belt or to order a complete hard-copy version for yourself or a friend.

About the author and reprint permission
Burke Franklin is the originator of the popular BizPlanBuilder® business planning software and the founder of JIAN (jee’on -- www.jian.com), the company behind a suite of successful business development software tools for Windows & Macintosh. Burke was elected to White House Conference on Small Business and nominated for Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year.” Burke is also an instrument-rated pilot, and a second-degree black belt in TaeKwonDo. Burke’s highly praised book, Business Black Belt draws parallels from the martial arts and is rich in hard-won advice for building and running a business today.
Permission granted to reprint this article in its entirety with no text alterations. You must include this byline in its entirety, plus, if it's to be posted to a web site, an active hyperlink to www.JIAN.com. (However, you may become an affiliate and insert your affiliate link to JIAN.)

Return to Library of Business Information