One of the primary functions of upper management is to ask their direct reports questions until they find a problem area. It’s actually not a bad practice and ensures that all the worker bees are engaged and trying to cover every possible scenario. Upper management doesn’t do the work, the leave that to guys like me; instead, they try and prove their value by making sure that people like me are working properly. In fact, I’ve sat in meetings until the boss was able to ask a question where no one knew the answer. Once he had proved to everyone how valuable he was to the process, the meeting was adjourned. When you work in Corporate America, you need to understand when to just shutup, acknowledge your boss’s alleged skill at getting to the root of a problem, and live another day to attend another meeting.
I’ve seen co-workers who didn’t understand this process pay a heavy price. The boss questions them into a corner and instead of just acknowledging a mistake or just saying “I’ll take care of that for you” they continued to argue. In reality, most bosses aren’t that interested in your subjective opinions, they are interested in what you are going to do for them and the company. If you feel that strongly about a topic, then make sure you have the data to back it up. The only time I have seen opinions change is when numbers were presented to help justify an argument. Otherwise, leave it alone.
You should also master the art of asking questions to assist you in your own career. Many times I am called into a meeting where I will be supporting another business function. Often times, I am not the subject matter expert, but I get as much information as possible by asking questions. I’m not trying to corner or embarrass anyone; I’m respectful and defer to their knowledge to assist me in doing my own job. Don’t go into a meeting like this with an air of superiority. Your success will depend on your ability to work with these people and one of the best ways to gain their confidence is to treat them like a subject matter expert.
The other critical side of asking good questions is that it allows you to participate in a meeting without having detailed information. In other words, you don’t need to wow and amaze your peers by saying something truly insightful, something that only someone with 30 years of experience might know. You can contribute by asking a good question that makes everyone stop and think. This will help foster discussion and improve the flow of the meeting. Your value will be evident to everyone who attended even though you might not have been the one who came up with the answer. Remember, sometimes it’s not about having all the answers, but knowing how to extract those answers from the people you work with.