There are no dumb questions. Or are there?

“There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers.”

Some people seem to think of that oft-used statement as a challenge. Which begs the question: Can we ask a really dumb question? Or is it impossible?

Let’s take the scenic tour through this expression. I can’t even begin to think of how many times I’ve heard – or said – this quote.

Have you read the National Safety Code (NSC)? Do you even know what it is? Oops. Was that a dumb question?

Right now, someone is reading this and thinking: “That’s dumb, everyone in trucking knows what the National Safety Code is.”

We have a natural bias, that someone else is the dumb one!

I haven’t read the entire code all at once. I’ve read most of it, but usually only when I have a question about something specific. Then I’ll read the pertinent section (there are 16 of them) and hopefully get my answer before I get sidetracked and Google leads me to pictures of cool trucks, then dancing babies then… shoot where was I?

Right. The National Safety Code.

National Safety Code questions

At Truck World several years ago, I asked a DoT officer a question about enforcement of an issue. It was an NSC 10 issue (look it up…OK, never mind, I’ll tell you: cargo securement).

 I was wondering why provinces enforced it differently. Another officer butted in and told me quite snarkily that the NSC is used Canada-wide and it’s all applied the same. The original officer saw my body language and reprimanded the second one, because the truth is, provinces are different.

Hence the question. We all use the National Safety Code. Shouldn’t enforcement be the same, right across the country? Theoretically, yes.

But we all interpret what we read in our own way. There are some things I read, where I’m way over the yellow line. Editors – past and present – and readers of my columns have often told me “Hmm, I never thought of it that way.”

We all have our own interpretation. That’s why we need to ask questions. We are all different. It’s human nature to think that we are right in our own ways.

For example, when you pass someone, or get passed, in less than ideal conditions, what do you think about the situation? In my mind, I was always in the right.

But that’s not the other driver’s reality. This is something I work on a lot in my life. I don’t know their situation. I cannot judge them. “Why are you driving too slow/fast?” It’s not a dumb question, it’s a dumb reaction that we have. You’ll be happier if you rid your life of that reaction.

I got a ticket many years ago for not having a tailgate on my pickup truck. In court, I proved that I didn’t require one, but the officer had read the law differently. Same rule, different opinions.

Subject to interpretation

Recently I asked an officer for their interpretation of some rules. I didn’t feel they were clear. I could go with my own preconceived assumptions, but I wanted clarification. The officer didn’t treat me like I was dumb, but instead we hashed out different scenarios and had a productive conversation.

Here’s another thing about asking questions: It’s so common to think we know what’s right, until we are asked to explain it.

“Well, I know how to do it, but I can’t explain it.” Sound familiar? You find out what you know or don’t know, when you try to teach or explain it to others.

That’s another great reason to ask questions of each other. It helps us learn and brings out a perspective that maybe we hadn’t considered.

There aren’t dumb questions. Just dumb reactions to questions. Encourage the questions and foster learning. In the words of Francis Bacon, “A prudent question is one half of wisdom.”