WEBVTT - Ask subversive (but polite) questions

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to use polite questions as a way

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<v Speaker 1>to nudge people to reconsider things. Many of us are

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<v Speaker 1>working and doing life differently these days. This is an

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<v Speaker 1>opportunity to challenge long held assumptions. Asking subversive, but polite

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<v Speaker 1>questions is a good way to inch this process along.

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<v Speaker 1>I was thinking of this topic while reading Michelle King's

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<v Speaker 1>new book The Fix, which is about the barriers women

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<v Speaker 1>often face while building their careers. King, who is the

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<v Speaker 1>director of Inclusion at Netflix, mentioned that as her husband

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<v Speaker 1>gained awareness about these issues, he didn't start walking around

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<v Speaker 1>with protest signs at the office. Instead, he started asking

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<v Speaker 1>why things were as they were. For instance, when a

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<v Speaker 1>manager mentioned that a woman on his team probably shouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>get promoted because she was getting married soon, he asked

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<v Speaker 1>why that was. If someone then wants to spell out

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<v Speaker 1>an assumption that newly married women will soon have babies

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<v Speaker 1>and lose all interest in work, well let them spell

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<v Speaker 1>this idea out. A question is not a direct challenge

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<v Speaker 1>to authority, but as people need to explain their assumptions,

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<v Speaker 1>It brings them into the light where they can be

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<v Speaker 1>dealt with. But asking subversive questions isn't just about countering discrimination.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a useful tactic in all kinds of situations. Many

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<v Speaker 1>of us have spent the past six weeks or so

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<v Speaker 1>working remotely. Many folks doing this are in jobs where

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<v Speaker 1>they were previously told that working from home would never

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<v Speaker 1>be an option. Interesting, right, I can just imagine someone

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<v Speaker 1>in the past asking these subverse, of but polite questions. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, working face to face is nice, But have

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<v Speaker 1>we thought about how our organization would keep functioning in

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<v Speaker 1>a pandemic, or if there were three weeks of horrible snowstorms,

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<v Speaker 1>or if all the roads around headquarters were suddenly declared unsafe.

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<v Speaker 1>Those subversive questions would have been quite useful, And so

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<v Speaker 1>we can see that maybe now is the time to

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<v Speaker 1>ask more of them. Maybe when your office went remote,

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<v Speaker 1>your team's daily ten a m. Meeting got converted into

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<v Speaker 1>a conference call. Maybe now you ask your manager, can

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<v Speaker 1>you explain to me the agenda for this conference call?

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you see that there rarely is one and having

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<v Speaker 1>an agenda would make the call a much better use

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<v Speaker 1>of time. Or maybe this question nudges the realization that

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<v Speaker 1>the meeting is kind of pointless. People can check in

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<v Speaker 1>on Slack and not interrupt the deep work they're doing

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<v Speaker 1>in the mornings. Or maybe you ask, can you tell

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<v Speaker 1>me why it's a important for us to be logged

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<v Speaker 1>in from eight am to five pm. It's a simple question,

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<v Speaker 1>but it might nudge the thought that actually a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of work can be done flexibly. Some core hours might

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<v Speaker 1>be great, but seldom is the full eight to nine

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<v Speaker 1>hour work day necessary. What I like about the question

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<v Speaker 1>approach is that it's gentle. There may be good reasons

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<v Speaker 1>for things, and this gives the powers that be the

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<v Speaker 1>chance to explain them. But when the answer is awkward

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<v Speaker 1>because the person can see that he or she is

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<v Speaker 1>about to say, well, we've just always done it this way,

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<v Speaker 1>or well everyone knows that right, then questions can instigate

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<v Speaker 1>change without preaching and protest. And since we do all

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<v Speaker 1>have to keep working together, it's best to make allies

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<v Speaker 1>rather than enemies. In the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>M Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You

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<v Speaker 1>can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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