Willingness to look stupid

Post by lotsofpulp » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:11 PM UTC

SilasX wrote: post #538

pja wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The explanation I saw was that people who buy comprehensive insurance are by and large regarded as lower risk than 3rd party only buyers & sometimes that weighting can tip the balance to make comprehensive cheaper than 3rd party, if the insurer thinks you’re otherwise a low risk buyer. All insurers have to go on to gauge your risk are the signals available to them & the type of insurance you’re buying is a signal. Wh…

That ... still makes no sense. "Discounting insurance for revealed [lower] risk class" doesn't work if the insured can easily fake membership in the lower risk class, which is trivial here -- just ask for comprehensive! What I think you might be confusing this with, is that one piece of the insurance is cheaper if you bundle it with others. That is, liability-only might be $50, but if you if you get liability + colli…

Post by daveguy » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:16 PM UTC

beaner wrote: post #463

nzealand wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An EVP of Ops of a fortune 500 did this to an entire room of functional experts. We were there to discuss a technical implementation. She kicked it off by saying "Let me start by asking a simple question, why do we do this function?" I am now considered a domain expert. I love this question. It surprises me at how few people start with the why, or even can articulate the why. The room of experts, were assembled to ro…

If it was just a setup to eventually providing an answer she already had in her pocket, is that the same thing really that's being discussed? Willingness to look stupid and earnestness to find an answer?

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:20 PM UTC

microtonal wrote: post #411

sharkweek wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VP in my org does this, and it really disarms the room. She’s big on that exact phrase of “this could be a really stupid question, but…” She’s also really good about making sure other people are rewarded for doing the same by reassuring someone asking what might be a dumb question as, “that’s a a great question and I’m sure others were wondering the same…” before responding. Great leadership, IMO.

In the group where I did my PhD, one of the professors would do this (but without pre-announcing). He would start with really basic questions and gradually build up to more complex questions. This was great for two reasons: 1. it builds up large common ground for understanding; 2. if someone in a leadership position does this, others will not feel ashamed of asking questions that they think may be basic.

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:22 PM UTC

crispyambulance wrote: post #549

serial_dev wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't like to say "I'm going to ask a stupid question". First of all, it feels disingenuous to me, people who say that never actually think that their questions will be stupid. And the second reason is that I think I might even convince myself that my questions are stupid... I know it sounds silly to some but little things like how you talk about yourself (and your questions) is important. I often ask these "stupid…

Yeah, to pretend to be "stupid" and basically dismiss your own question is kind of cloying or may be seen as disingenuous or even passive aggressive. Folks who are good at communicating can always keep everyone feeling engaged and comfortable, while still getting to nitty-gritty WITHOUT resorting to saying stuff like "... this is stupid question, but...".

Post by dghlsakjg » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:24 PM UTC

blitz_skull wrote: post #523

downWidOutaFite wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If blm were the status quo the police would have been defunded.

I think a couple cities did that, and quickly back-tracked because crime shot up.