By Sal Mistry, PhD, Management and Organizations, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University

Learning to ask the right questions begins with a simple question that we should ask ourselves: “Am I on the right track?”

The Problem
We all seek answers. In fact, we need answers. Why? Our minds are trained at an early age to minimize uncertainty. When confronted with mysteries we ask ourselves why? how? when? questions.

As leaders, we’re confronted with – and in many cases, bombarded with – uncertainty. Uncertainty with the economy, cash flow, products, and processes. In essence, it’s hard to predict how each will behave. Faced with these problems, we seek to minimize these uncertainties by obtaining answers from people responsible for these areas. However, in the course of obtaining answers, we often do some of the following: