Which is Worse? Not Asking at All, or Asking the Wrong Questions?

Let me answer your question in the most straightforward way. Asking the wrong questions is worse than not asking any questions at all. Teachers, professors and even parents have been harping on us for most of our lives to engrain within us that there are “… no are no stupid questions” to be asked. In the real world, that is really not true.

Indeed, in a business setting there are bad questions that can be asked, especially when the subsequent answers to those questions are used as the basis for future decisions. If a question fails to be worded properly, for example, it can cause miscommunications, misinterpretations or poor planning.

Let’s use an example of a company researching a new product. “Company Drink” wants to know if people will buy their new drink recipe and if the new drink will help to increase their market share. In order to do this, Company Drink must perform some market research. And typically within a market research phase, the emphasis is placed upon what people like or dislike about a product, both from a taste and marketing or branding standpoint. However, just presenting the prospects with questions that lead back to “Yes” even if the true answer is “No”, sometimes the genuine questions can be left out. Instead, Company Drink might prance around the real questions, which is whether or not as a consumer you would purchase this new drink and would you do so regularly?

Here are some technical ways that people can ask bad questions. They ask questions that…

• Do not focus on the topic of interest.
• Skip around the main topic.
• Are not framed properly, devoid of context.
• Don’t reveal the answers they need.
• Speak in vague language
• Could have double meanings
• Are overly complicated

The above is a list of attributes that your questions should avoid having. In order to do this, there must be thought behind each question. Otherwise, questions which have these characteristics will give you an unclear picture of determining the answers you are searching for. Or, they could provide a faulty picture of what is not real, leading you to figure out the answers too late or after mistakes have been made.