"Lastly, of course, what conspires against questioning is knowledge. If we feel we know something, then we don't have to ask... We've got it figured out. What I discovered is that innovation is about being the person who asks those questions instead of going through the routine."
"The question enables us to ask the unknown... Questioning is a tool that enables us to organize our thinking about what we don't know."
"Awareness of what you don't know is one of the measures of intelligence."
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Ok, so I could keep quoting this podcast for my entire blog, but I will pause to share my thoughts. This idea that our knowledge prevents us from asking more questions is interesting to me. I am listening to a book that has been explaining the value of active listening and I think they are related. When I make assumptions (well, we all know what assuming does, see me if you are unsure) then I close off myself to gaining new information because I feel like I have it. My assumptions are based on the knowledge I already have. The role of active listening is to put all of your focus on listening and gathering information from the other person. So when I feel like I know it all already, I stop actively listening and lose the opportunity to learn another perspective, information, etc. I can think of times when I have done this and missed either something verbally spoken or nonverbal messages from the other person. I see this most frequently happening when I am tired or in a hurry. When I am able to keep focus and calm myself (oh-look, mindfulness), I am able to give all my focus to the other person and I get more out of the conversation. Does happen to you?
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