Tool 03 of 10
03
The Stupid Question Prompt
When you feel embarrassed to not know.
- Time
- 5 minutes
- BLOCK
- Blame Culture + Knowledge Hoarding
- SPARK
- Permission + Safety
- Starting point for
- Blame Culture, Knowledge Hoarding
Some questions are not hard. They are socially expensive.
The Stupid Question Prompt is for those moments when the question is obvious, basic, or embarrassingly late, and exactly therefore worth asking.
Use it when
- everyone in the room seems to understand except you
- jargon is hiding confusion
- fake clarity is moving the conversation forward too fast
- you feel pressure to perform knowledge you do not actually have
AI lens
AI can be a rehearsal room for vulnerable questions.
Helpful use
"Help me phrase this basic question clearly and respectfully."
Risk
Asking AI instead of eventually asking the real humans who need the question asked.
One week. One tool.
Pick your start day.
The card goes on your lock screen or into your story.
Start
This week I am trying
03of 10
The Stupid Question Prompt
Start: Tomorrow
5 minutes
How it works
- Use one of these sentence starters: "Can I ask the obvious question?", "I may be missing something basic here, but...", "Before we go further, can we define what we mean by...?", "What assumption are we treating as settled here?", "What would a smart beginner ask right now?"
- Then ask the question cleanly. Without apologizing for three paragraphs first.
When you feel embarrassed to not know.
WHY SO CURIOUSwhy-so-curious.com/en/toolkit
Format
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