Your Attitude Is Showing: A Primer of Human Relations, Tenth Edition

Tip 3: Ask Questions, but Learn to Ask the Right Ones

Fear of being considered inadequate is the reason most people in a new work situation do not ask more questions. A genuine concern about making mistakes in a new position is understandable, but it is better to ask ques-tions than to suffer the serious results of continued mistakes. If you don’t understand something, ask questions until you do. Asking questions may be necessary because those responsible for your adjustment and training do not always take enough time to explain things fully. Because old hands tend to forget that they, too, had trouble learning at the beginning, they often talk so fast that only a genius or a psychic could get the message the first time around.

There is a right ...