Want Critical Thinkers? Reward Asking Questions.

One of managers’ and employers’ biggest complaints is the inability to hire critical thinkers – employees who question. I hear this complaint all the time. Yet we often find the people who ask questions irritating and bothersome. “Why do they have to look for what’s wrong? Why can’t they just say, “ok”?

Questioners are often seen as boat rockers, challenging the status quo. They are ‘difficult’.

We can’t have it both ways. We can’t hire people who think critically, who don’t question.

I’m not talking about people who can’t make a decision and are constantly asking managers to validate their solutions or employees who use managers as google rather than doing their own research or people who tend to complain and find something wrong with everything. I’m talking about squelching the counter-point-of-view.

If you want employees who identify and solve problems and create new products and ways of working, then you need to reward those who question.

One of the reasons employees may not ask questions is the fear of appearing as if they don’t know. Who likes to admit they don’t know something at work? It takes strength to admit, “I don’t know.” Managers and leaders need to model the behaviors they want to see. We need to ask our own questions visibly and regularly. We need to admit when we don’t know. We need to be willing to be wrong and to let others see it.

Also, put simple and regular structures in place to tease out employees’ point of view. Conduct short, regular debriefs. Ask what’s working and what can be improved one-on-one and in larger meetings regularly – mid-project and after new actions and decisions. Wait for positive and upgrade responses. Don’t move on until you get both types of feedback. Demonstrate appreciation for positive and negative input. Ensure there are no negative consequences for speaking up. Keep asking. Over time, employees will get more comfortable giving real feedback and will trust it’s safe to tell the truth. 

Lastly, there is an old workplace adage, you get what you reward. Does your organization have an award for the employee who asks challenging questions? If not, create one. Do you recognize employees publicly who are willing to point out inefficient processes and costly systems? Do you have a reward system in place for employees who fail trying to fix a problem or create something new? If we get what we reward, what are we rewarding?

Tags: critical thinkers at work, how to do a debrief, how to teach people to think critically, reward systems at work, reward those who question