OK, There is Such a Thing as a Stupid Question

My daughter is a junior in college, taking business courses in hopes of one day landing her a job that will allow her to afford the lifestyle to which her dad and I have mistakenly let her grow comfortably accustomed.   From my prior posts, you have probably already figured out that she is my first born, my rule follower, my one that makes it really hard for a younger brother to follow in school and live up to pre-established teacher expectations.  She has always been my quiet and “cautious” child – an adjective we were told to use by her Kindergarten teacher because it didn’t quite carry the same stigma as the word “shy” does.    A middle school teacher once told me that my daughter likes to remain invisible in class.  She will not establish eye contact for fear of being called on and won’t raise her hand if she has a question.  (I tried that same approach in school but it was usually because I hadn’t done the assignment, not because I was introverted). 

For my daughter, she simply likes to find the answers on her own and frankly, that has been a successful strategy for her so far.   But she told me last semester a professor actually announced the first day of class that he didn’t like “stupid questions” – and that if you asked what ended up being what he thought was a stupid question, he would knock points off your grade.  Needless to say, she will never raise her hand in that class!  While marveling over this one day, my son also admitted his math teacher said the same thing last year to his Honors Algebra class.  She implemented what she referred to as the “five second rule” – not the “drop the food on the floor, scoop it up and blow it off” five second rule, but the one where she required all the kids to think about the question they were going to ask for five seconds before they raised their hands.  If they still thought it was important, they could ask but if they ended up deeming it “stupid”, they had a chance to save themselves the embarrassment first.  Wow!  What a way to put a damper on student exploration, inquisitiveness or just a basic need for clarification (and I’m not talking about the kids that really are stupid and raise their hands to ask “is this material going to be on the Final Exam?”…)

I guess as a parent I find it a little shocking that some teachers are reverting to this approach.  But once I really think about it, I guess I have fallen victim to this tactic myself a time or two.   I have caught myself rolling my eyes, taking deep breaths and trying to practice the utmost in control when I get asked what I think has to be the most stupid question of all — “Why should we do Research?”  OK, maybe I’m biased because I’m a market researcher and these people threaten my livelihood, but ask yourself just how well you can answer the following:

• Who are your customers?  What do they “look” like and how can you find more of them? 
• How happy are your customers?  How do they talk about you when you aren’t in front of them?  Would they recommend you to others?  If they are unhappy, do you know how to fix the relationship or do you just let them take their crayons and go play somewhere else?
• Is there something else that they would like to buy from you but are forced to go elsewhere because you don’t realize the potential sales that can come from product/service expansion, vertical integration or incentives for repeated purchase?
• Who is your real competition?  What are they doing “right” that you can benchmark?  What are they doing “wrong” that you can capitalize upon?

These are just a few of the not-so-stupid questions that I can help you address.  I’m betting you have others and I would love the chance to brainstorm ways that Markets in Motion can help you find the answers you need to help your business grow.  Feel free to give me a call, mention this post and I’ll knock a few bucks off your bill….but I promise not to take any points off your final grade.  Don’t stand still while your market’s in motion!