The value of a stupid question

0:00 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients. When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research program. Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit. However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs.

0:40 For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene. Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast. I'm your host Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is my absolute pleasure to be talking with you today. Thank you so much for tuning in. Today I'm excited to talk about the value of a stupid question. Yes, the value of a stupid question. This episode, the idea for this episode came from a recent coaching session I had with a small group of women, and somebody was like, I'm not even sure I should be asking this question.

1:28 And then she went ahead and asked the question anyway. And I just thought how often we preface our questions with either clarifying that they're not really great questions, or maybe they're questions that shouldn't be asked. And it's amazing when we do ask them anyway. And so I'm here to celebrate the value of stupid in air quotes question. No question is a stupid question. That's kind of like important to know. But one of the greatest questions, I think the greatest stupid questions of all time came from a story that you may know well, the Emperor's New Clothes. And if I remember the story well, and summarizing it, it's been a long time since I read it.

2:10 This is great tailor, these great tailors who came from out of town, and they found this king and they were talking to this king about these amazing clothes that they were going to make for the king. And when they brought the clothes to the king, the king was like, wait a minute, I don't see any clothes. And they were like, oh, no, the people who can see these clothes are only those who are enlightened and intelligent and amazing. And the king was like, sure. And so with great pomp and circumstance, they helped the king wear these clothes. And the king went out in public and everybody who was intelligent and smart and erudite said, wow, Emperor, your clothes are so beautiful.

2:54 And finally, a little child came up and was like, but the Emperor is naked. And it took a little child asking the most stupid question ever to reveal that the Emperor had been indeed duped. And yeah, I don't remember all the details of the story exactly, but you get the gist of the story that it takes someone asking a question that nobody else is asking for great things to be revealed. And that is why I think stupid questions are valuable. And so I'm here to talk about seven reasons why stupid questions have value. I'm here to talk about seven reasons why stupid questions have value. First off, just to clear the air or to set the bar straight or to set the record straight, there is no such thing as a stupid question.

3:41 There is no such thing as a stupid question. And sometimes people balk against that and they're like, oh no, we've heard stupid questions. We've certainly heard them. And I just want to reiterate that there really is no such thing as a stupid question because every question that's born out of curiosity is born out of curiosity. And maybe the person who's asking the question, maybe they have an idea of the answer and they're asking the question, or maybe they have no idea of the answer and they're asking the question, but either way, someone's raised up their hands to say, I want to ask her question and therefore the question has value. And the question has value to tell you what that person is thinking about, how they think, or what thoughts they have in their mind.

4:26 So if ever you get to a point where you're like, okay, that is a stupid question, I want you to pause and say, well, what about the question is stupid? What does the question tell you about the person asking the question? It may mean that the person doesn't have an idea of the answer. Maybe they have a knowledge deficit and your expectation is that, oh, wait a minute, you shouldn't have this knowledge deficit. You should know this. Well, that's okay to say that. You may be surprised that this person has a knowledge deficit. And I want to say that if you're in a learning situation, learners are supposed to have knowledge deficits, that's why they're learners, just to put it out there. But instead of saying stupid question, you can say, oh, well, what does this question tell me about the person asking it?

5:09 So maybe they don't know, or maybe they're asking a question to provoke thought, or maybe they're asking a question so that other people can think about the question too, or maybe they're asking a question on behalf of someone else. There's always a reason for a question. And so the next time you want to just immediately think in judgment, oh, what a stupid question, I want you to pause and say, well, is it really stupid? What is it about the question that gives me that kind of reaction? And what is it about the question that tells me about the person who's asking the question? You know, honestly, sometimes people don't actually have a question, but they're trying to say something. And it really takes someone who's paying attention to stop and say, well, what is this person really asking?

5:51 Like, what is the questioner thinking? And so it's really about answering the questioner, not necessarily the question. But again, I just want to set the record straight that there is no such thing as a stupid question. And I hope the next time you think that, you'll think, well, wait a minute, what is the way this question has been being asked? Or what does the question itself tell me about the person who is asking the question? And I say that because for those of us who are leading research programs, you know, over time, we're becoming the expert over time, we're the ones who are leading, who are mentoring. So we really do need to create safe spaces for our learners. And if we are teachers, if we are kind of the guardians of the culture of our space, we really got to be careful to respect every learner.

6:39 And respecting learners starts from respecting the learner asking the question, no matter what the question may seem like to you. And even if you're not the custodian of a culture of the space, you share in the culture, you share in the way things are perceived. And so if there is someone who is a learner like you, who you're calling out because they're asking a question that you don't think they should be asking, think before you judge them in your heart. And certainly think before you open your mouth in judgment against them. No question is a stupid question. All right. The second thing I want to say is that whenever we think stupid question, this is from the perspective of the person asking the question, there's shame and fear that comes with that question.

7:25 It's like, oh, I'm not sure I should be asking this question. I'm not sure I shouldn't know the answer, but I don't know. And we're like, well, maybe this is a stupid question, but it's not. We've already established that. But really think about the fact that every judgment of yourself and any question that's coming out of your mouth is born out of fear and shame. It's born out of fear that somebody else will look at you and say, well, why don't you know that? Have you been studying? Or maybe it's born out of shame that someone's going to judge you or they're going to say, well, you should already know this. Everybody knows that. And clearly everybody doesn't know it because you don't know it yet. And so from the perspective of the person who's asking the question, don't judge your question.

8:10 Don't. If you're going to ask a question, be brave and bold and ask the question. Don't let fear or shame keep you from asking. And if you're going to be courageous and ask, don't preface the question by, oh, maybe this is a stupid question because it doesn't actually help to label something as stupid and then ask everybody else not to label it as stupid either. And so it's okay to be curious. It's okay to ask questions and just go ahead and ask anyway. So somebody else might think it's stupid. Somebody else might judge it, but don't be the one to give them the armor or the ammunition to judge your question. You just go ahead and ask it. So stupid questions or the idea that a question is stupid that's coming from the person asking is when we're afraid or when we feel shame.

8:59 And I want to say that in the space in which you occupy in academic medicine, gosh, there's a lot of judgment and there is a lot of fear and a lot of shame. And I want to say that if we're going to begin to change culture, especially in the environments that we lead in, we've really got to come out and be bold and brave and not be afraid to ask a question no matter how it may be perceived. And again, that's also flipping that around to the person who the question is being asked of if you think, oh, I don't know if you should be asking that question. I don't know. That sounds like a really silly question. Think about what is the motive potentially behind the question and maybe ask a question yourself. And say, hey, what leads you to ask that question?

9:43 And probe a little bit. So rather than judge the question, ask questions to clarify the questioner or to clarify why the question is being asked. Okay. Number three, stupid, in quotes again, is a question stupid, a stupid question is a sign of curiosity. I'll say that again. A stupid question, in quotes, is a sign of curiosity. If somebody asks a question, they actually are looking for an answer. People do not ask questions not to receive answers. And so even if it seems as if they should already know the answer to the question, but they not, they don't. So you as the person who's leading the space or teaching should answer the question and just recognize that there's a curiosity that's driving the question.

10:31 Now here's the thing about people that's kind of interesting. Sometimes people ask questions and they're not really asking a question. They're trying to make a statement. And so there was a kind of emotional intelligence needed to really stop and say, hmm, why is this person asking this question? What may be driving this question? And to be bold enough out of your own curiosity to say, I'm not understanding what's prompting this question. And sometimes someone's asking a question where the answer seems obvious. And sometimes they're leading you down a certain pathway. You get that a lot when people are asking you yes or no questions where it's like, where is this going? And if you're thinking that it's okay to say, wait a minute, hmm, I'm thinking I might be missing something.

11:18 Where are you leading with this line of questioning? And I just want you to think about, especially if you're the person of whom the question is being asked. And I'm not saying people don't, people sometimes ask questions to provoke you or to challenge what you're saying or to call out something as blatantly wrong. And sometimes they'll ask questions that seem a little bit off. And I just want to say the moment you feel in your mind that, hmm, there's something wrong here, you be curious, you get curious. That person's curious about something and it may not be exactly the question they're asking, but there's curiosity there. And so you get curious too and say, hmm, what's prompting you to ask this question? Help me understand. And so any question that's supposedly stupid is born out of curiosity.

12:02 It may not be directly related to the question that's being asked, but you, the person of whom the question is being asked, you stop and be curious and ask a curious question of your own. You know what? Every question does not have to be answered actually. It doesn't have to be responded to. But if you're going to be respectful and you're going to give a response, you don't necessarily have to directly answer the question. But it is important to sometimes ask a question to clarify the question that's being asked so that you know the purpose for which the questioner is asking. So no question is a stupid question. They do sometimes people judge questions to be stupid because of fear and shame, but they really are a sign of curiosity.

12:45 And if you're confused by the question, you bring out your own curiosity. All right. The next thing I want to share, that's number four, is that stupid questions lead to great insight. Stupid questions, again in quotes, lead to great insight. Okay. What does that mean? Well, if it's a real question, no matter how you're judging it, then it helps clarify things. And you know, other people may have the same question too. And so the moment you ask a question and somebody can clarify the answer, wow, you have insight. Great. That's awesome. Okay. But sometimes it really is a question that stokes you. You're like, wait a minute, why is this person asking this question? This doesn't make sense to me. I think this person should know the answer.

13:26 Hmm. What are they asking me this question for? And so your curiosity can allow them to clarify why they're asking the question. And that gives you insight. It gives you insight about the person. And I give you insight into the fact that they haven't been listening all this while. You're like, wait, I just said that. And other people too might be like, wait, they just said that. And it's okay. Most people don't hear things that were said. And sometimes as human beings, we need to hear things over and over again. And it's okay. What I just want to say is that it is important to give people grace. No matter why you think the question is being asked, whether you think it's being asked to push you, to provoke you, or the person wasn't listening, just be gracious and answer again.

14:11 Always, always choose graciousness. Always, always choose graciousness in answering a question. And if you're the one asking the question that you think is stupid, be gracious and ask it anyway. Because you know when somebody else might have the same question and you're being brave and bold in bringing up the question that other people would otherwise not ask because they're afraid themselves. That leads me to number five, is that if you ask a stupid question, you're a brave and a bold person. And I want you to just celebrate the fact that you have bravery and boldness when you ask a question. You're like, I don't know if I should be asking this question. It seems like a stupid question. And then you ask it anyway. Kudos to you.

14:51 Because what you're doing is you're staring fear and shame in the face. You're staring, oh my gosh, you're staring shame and fear in the face. And you're saying, well, yeah, okay, maybe someone will think this stupid question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. So kudos to you. It is brave and bold to ask a question that you think people are going to laugh at. And honestly, wow, what a great practice. To be bold enough to say what's on your mind, even if people start laughing. And yeah, it's easier said than done. But in reality, if you're going to go do great things, answer great questions, if you're going to unearth mysteries in your research program, well, you got to be ready for people to laugh at you.

15:32 You know, you just got to be ready. It's kind of like par for the course, right? Your papers are rejected. Your grants are not funded. There's so much rejection. The moment you decide that, you know, when I'm not going to let this get me down, I need the answer to a question, I'm just going to ask it anyway, then good for you. You're taking up your courage and you are exercising your ability to be brave and be bold. You know what other people need to see that too. And that leads me to number six, is that stupid questions inspire people? They do. Now the person to whom you're asking the question may not appreciate the question if they think it's stupid and that's on them. That's not your problem. But there are other people who also didn't understand or they also didn't get it.

16:16 And they wanted to ask the question, but they were afraid. And the moment you're like, well, you know what, maybe this sounds stupid to all of you, but I'm still going to ask it anyway. You inspire other people to ask their own stupid questions too. And you know what? We need more people asking stupid, in quotes, questions because there are so many things that people assume that everybody understands or the things that people feel like, okay, it should be inside knowledge, but it's not inside our knowledge. And it's important that people highlight that by asking questions. And so every time you stand up and you're thinking, oh, this was about to be a stupid question, I want you to ask it anyway, because somebody else in the room needs you to ask that question.

16:56 Finally, number seven is that stupid questions should always be allowed in your space. No matter where you are, I want you to welcome every question that may sound stupid, that may sound out of line, even if you're the one asking the question, and especially if you're the one to whom the question is being posed. Because the moment that you allow the question in your space, then you are being gracious. And every time somebody is gracious in the space, it creates more room for more grace. And so have you ever been to those sessions where someone gives a presentation and the questions are so cutthroat and they're so ugly? Yeah, but when the person answers with grace, it just changes the atmosphere.

17:42 And to be honest, the person who's asking ugly questions or trying to be provocative looks bad. And I'm not saying that the goal is to make anybody look bad, because that's just not really the point and it's not really worth it. But it's just to say that if you are going to diffuse the kind of tensions and the kind of like tough environments in which people are made to feel like they're really small, if you're going to contribute to building environments where people are held in high positive regard, you've got to contribute by being gracious, even when other people are not. So the next time you have a question, ask it graciously too.

18:22 But if you are asked the question, be gracious in your response, even when you don't feel like it's a worthy question or you feel like you just answer the question, just answer it again. Be gracious, because it changes the atmosphere and that's how we promote learning and that's how we encourage others to show up and be themselves and ask the questions they think are stupid as well. All right, so I've been talking about the value of a stupid question. Number one, a question is stupid. Every question has value. Number two, stupid questions are really thought to be stupid because there's fear and there's shame and our job is to remove the fear and the shame associated with showing up in any space. Number three is that stupid questions are really a sign of curiosity and if you don't understand why the question was asked, you get curious and try to get behind the reason for the question.

19:10 So curiosity is necessary when it comes to questions that might look stupid. Number four, stupid questions actually lead to great insight. Number five, stupid questions are just bravery. Yes, the person who's asking the question is bold. Stupid questions inspire people because other people have those questions too. And finally, stupid questions should be allowed in your space because you encourage your space to be beautiful and kind and nurturing when you allow stupid questions in your space. All right, thank you so much for listening today. It's been a pleasure talking with you. I look forward to talking with you again next time on the Clinician Researcher.

19:55 Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher podcast where academic clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself. Someone else needs to hear it. So take a minute right now and share it. As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.