Why Questions Are An Asset, Not A Nuisance

I just started reading Seth Godin’s new book Linchpin, and although I’m not a rabid follower of his, I feel a huge sense of relief.  I think this line sums up how I felt about my previous job as a teacher in an urban school district:

We are surrounded by bureaucrats, note takers, literalists, manual readers, TGIF laborers, map followers, and fearful employees

What mattered to me in that job was finding out what black hole my students’ special ed paperwork had disappeared to and why no one was telling me they had IEPs that were to be followed.  What mattered to me was finding out why we were using a reading curriculum that we were being paid to use despite its ineffectiveness.  Instead I was disciplined for not following the exact order outlined in the teacher’s guide.

I questioned why kids were being hit and forcefully restrained.

I refused to take the hint that I should stop filing incident reports when parents and students made overtly racist comments like “dirty Chinese”, “Chinatown girl”, or “do you eat cats and dogs” to me.

Strangely, no one else felt the need to ask questions like this.  They were happy to show up five minutes before the kids came into the classroom and leave as soon as the bell rang for dismissal.

On Fridays, instead of spending any time preparing in the mornings, they got together and ate donuts and I was weird for choosing to prepare for the day.  It was considered anti-union to skip out on the Friday donuts and coffee because that meant you weren’t late picking up your students and it made everyone else look bad.  Everyone would get mad at you for just trying to do your job.

What I learned was that in that system you DON’T ASK QUESTIONS.  You don’t think about how you can make anything better, you just do as you’re told.

Systems like that are not only outdated, they’re doomed to fail.  They talk a good talk about all their different plans for change, but when employees aren’t allowed to ask questions, nothing can ever change.    It’s unfortunate both for employees who feel so stifled and oppressed that they end up leaving and for students who are cheated out of a fair education.

I hear this sentiment expressed by many adults on the spectrum who are natural troubleshooters or analysts, and yet find that their employers don’t welcome this gift.  In my case, the problem was that my schooling was geared towards an analytical career (even my masters program seemed like a pre-Ph.D track), but I, being young and idealistic, chose an overly bureaucratic job.

While a career change isn’t an option for everyone, you might want to ask yourself whether you’re more willing to change for your job or whether you want your job to change for you meh, on second thought I’m not liking that advice so much.  What would you suggest for someone who finds his or her inquisitiveness and desire to fix things discouraged at work?

(photo: Ollie T)