What If You Were Paid By The Question?
Huh? Paid by the question...what does that mean?
Imagine being dropped into a widget factory without any training. You have to produce widgets to earn a paycheck. How do you learn what to do? You ask questions.
There are "horizontal" questions, those you ask others making widgets. You learn what you need to survive, assuming that you ask the right people, they give you the right advice, and you correctly implement it. If all you want to do is earn a paycheck, stop now. But there is absolutely no guarantee that you will be able to "successfully" sustain this approach for very long. The widgets will change. The way they are made will change. The widget factory will need to make them better, faster, and cheaper than the competition if they are to survive. Don't believe me? Ask General Motors, Ford, and Dahmler-Chrysler. Maybe you'll be able to find a job at Toyota.
If all you want to do is survive, then stay with the horizontal questions.
If you want to grow, making yourself more valuable to the widget factory owner, try asking "vertical" questions. "Why does my company make widgets?" "Who is our competition?" "How do we compare to them?" "What does all that stuff on my company's financial statement mean?" "What do the other people in my company do?"
Asking questions runs counter to the typical shop, office, and factory culture. Don't be discouraged by the "discouraged." A solid understanding of how your company works greatly enlarges your potential territory. It opens up your field-of-view, giving you options you may not have been aware of before.
Make the most of each opportunity when you encounter someone from another area of the company, or even better, with a senior manager or executive. How? Write down and keep on your person the questions you might ask in such situations. "Played any golf lately?" may make conversation, but "How is the falling dollar affecting our margin?" may make him or her remember you.
If you were allowed to observe the workings of a senior management meeting at your company, you would probably find that the smart guys are the ones that know the right questions to ask, not the ones that seem to have all the answers.
Can you get paid by the question? Absolutely.
Imagine being dropped into a widget factory without any training. You have to produce widgets to earn a paycheck. How do you learn what to do? You ask questions.
There are "horizontal" questions, those you ask others making widgets. You learn what you need to survive, assuming that you ask the right people, they give you the right advice, and you correctly implement it. If all you want to do is earn a paycheck, stop now. But there is absolutely no guarantee that you will be able to "successfully" sustain this approach for very long. The widgets will change. The way they are made will change. The widget factory will need to make them better, faster, and cheaper than the competition if they are to survive. Don't believe me? Ask General Motors, Ford, and Dahmler-Chrysler. Maybe you'll be able to find a job at Toyota.
If all you want to do is survive, then stay with the horizontal questions.
If you want to grow, making yourself more valuable to the widget factory owner, try asking "vertical" questions. "Why does my company make widgets?" "Who is our competition?" "How do we compare to them?" "What does all that stuff on my company's financial statement mean?" "What do the other people in my company do?"
Asking questions runs counter to the typical shop, office, and factory culture. Don't be discouraged by the "discouraged." A solid understanding of how your company works greatly enlarges your potential territory. It opens up your field-of-view, giving you options you may not have been aware of before.
Make the most of each opportunity when you encounter someone from another area of the company, or even better, with a senior manager or executive. How? Write down and keep on your person the questions you might ask in such situations. "Played any golf lately?" may make conversation, but "How is the falling dollar affecting our margin?" may make him or her remember you.
If you were allowed to observe the workings of a senior management meeting at your company, you would probably find that the smart guys are the ones that know the right questions to ask, not the ones that seem to have all the answers.
Can you get paid by the question? Absolutely.
posted by Duane Olcsvary at 5:33 PM
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