Comments

Admission: If You Don’t Know The Answer, Be The First To Say It! — 5 Comments

  1. I like what you have said about the consequence of pretending. A lot of people really want to impress others by pretending to be smart.

    • Hey Mika,

      thanks I’m glad you like the article. Yep, I’m afraid the pretending thing is something that most people do to a lesser or greater extent, often without even realizing it – because we tend to be a little too worried about what others think (and are often wrong about what they might be thinking in any case),

      thanks for the comment,

      take care & best wishes,
      Alan

      • That’s true. Some would might impress you on some ways, but some might take it seriously that they will notice that you are just showing off.

  2. Hey Alan,

    Sometimes it is about pride or appearing to be the one that just doesn’t get it. Especially in a meeting where others seem to understand – who wants to be the idiot, right?

    I’ve found that when I’ve not understood something and asked for clarity, others have admitted they were unclear too. It takes one person, doesn’t it?

    However there have been times where I haven’t spoken up and have ended up taking twice as long to do something or understand something, simply because I didn’t have the balls to say something!

    Great article, Alan.

    – Razwana

    • Hi Razwana,

      many thanks for the comment – you’re right, and that’s exactly what people are worried about, being seen as the idiot. But it’s rarely as bad as they think it is.

      So it is often about having the balls to say I don’t know, but sometimes it can also be about noticing subtle shifts in perception and correcting them if they’re wrong.

      I saw a really bad example once where an MD ‘vouched’ for a project manager, he went around telling everyone she was taking care of something and she hadn’t stopped him in a meeting when he was singing her praises (because she liked it). She should have noticed that he had assumed too much about her, in the end he had effectively built her reputation up and she couldn’t live up to it. Through no fault of her own she was seen as this shining star and then suddenly people were shocked when she didn’t deliver to some of these expectations she didn’t even know about.

      It’s a really simple point, but can be really damaging if unchecked. We should always act with honesty and integrity. Asking for clarity is almost always a good move. Shortcuts, pretending you know when you really don’t and allowing false impressions may work in the short term, but they rarely do in the long term.

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