3 universal risks of asking questions and how to overcome them

Once again we enter a new year with more questions than answers. As we close out 2024 with a historic US election, wars around the world, an escalating climate crisis and the spread of artificial intelligence, it may even seem like we have more questions than ever before. Questions we may never ask out loud.

A 2021 study of students’ perceptions of volunteering to ask and answer questions found that more than half of students in large-enrollment courses never ask or answer questions, even though they find asking and answering questions helpful feel.

But the fear of asking questions is not just a psychological phenomenon that only affects nervous students and others who are inhibited by personal, social or structural circumstances. It is a philosophical phenomenon that applies to all of us.

And by treating the fear of asking questions as an existential condition, we can help each other find the courage to ask the hard questions in 2025.

We all have good reasons not to ask questions

Eve has been working at the same company for several years now. And she knows how to deal with her tasks, colleagues and customers.

There are certainly things she wishes were different, but changing them is beyond her pay grade. And when top management says they want her and her colleagues to ask questions and share their opinions on ways to improve, she feels like they are only interested in a certain type of opinion. And she’s not sure what that is.

Plus, the last time one of her colleagues asked a question in a meeting, everyone seemed bored and impatient, and she doesn’t want to waste everyone’s time. In short: Eva has good reasons not to ask questions.

Looking at the Magic Triangle of Questions, Eva’s discomfort with asking questions can be broken down into three specific risks:

1. By asking questions, we risk jeopardizing our personal and professional lives role In the team

When I introduced the ASK guide earlier Forbes In this article I emphasized the point of view of the German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer that if there is no method of learning how to ask questions, what matters is not what we know, but rather that we are willing to admit that there is something there is that we know not knowledge.

But as anthropologist Esther N. Goody points out, knowledge is viewed as power in many societies. So admitting ignorance by asking can seem like giving up power and devaluing our own position.

And when, like Eve, we have been working at the same company or in the same industry for a long time, people expect and depend on us to know what we are doing.

Luckily, it helps to know what we’re doing not contradict acknowledging and admitting that there is something we do not know. On the contrary, the best questions arise when you know enough about something to recognize what is missing or what can be improved.

So, to overcome our fear of losing our position, we must not be afraid to ask questions that may make us appear less knowledgeable. Instead, we must ask ourselves what we know, what other people need to know to understand the meaning of our question, and share that knowledge to motivate our question.

2. By asking questions, we risk Danger Our relationships With the other team members

Goody describes it this way: “Interrogations not only involve a request for information, but also have a command function.” Questions are speech acts that place two people in direct, immediate interaction. In doing so, they convey messages about relationships, relative status, status assertions and status challenges.”

Once again, Goody makes it clear that asking and answering questions is a power game. And when we know this – as most of us do instinctively – but are unsure how to play it, we fear not only losing our personal and professional status, but also of upsetting our team’s group dynamics.

To overcome this fear, we must ask ourselves whether it is important for everyone to clarify or discuss our question. If the answer is “no,” now is not the time to ask. However, if the answer is yes, we need to assess whether the risk the team is taking is valid not Clarifying and discussing the question is greater than the risk we take in asking it.

And if this is the case, we need to ask the question, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us feel. Because if the team takes the risk not Clarifying and discussing the question is greater than our personal risk in asking it. We don’t waste time. In fact, we help everyone spend their time on the things that matter most.

3. By asking questions, we take risks Danger Our Responsibility Contribute to a common goal

Although questions activate our ability to think, connect, and engage, we don’t always ask questions to commit to a common goal. Sometimes, as French philosopher Paul Ricoeur points out, we ask questions to challenge the established order. This means that asking questions can jeopardize the stability and security of the entire team or even the entire organization.

But asking questions is also the only way for individuals, teams and organizations to renew themselves and shape the future, rather than simply trying to keep up with the ever-changing world of which they are a part. So, to overcome the fear of asking questions, we must remember that there is risk not Asking questions is often greater than the risk of doing so.

From not we ask reduce the risk of appearing ignorant, wasting other people’s time, and taking on tasks that are above our pay grade. But us too increase There is a risk that important knowledge will not be shared, important questions will not be clarified and discussed, and no one will take responsibility for shaping our common future.

So instead of succumbing to an abstract fear of asking questions, we need to assess the concrete risks that come with asking questions not Questions in the situations we find ourselves in. And the first step to doing that is reminding ourselves and each other that we are in this questioning power play together, no matter how daunting the questions of 2025 may seem.