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In an intense workplace where everyone is faking it til they make it, theres pressure to always have the right answer to any given question. I get it. I too love being right and having the most helpful advice for people. Maybe its a carryover from school? Maybe its a firstborn thing? Maybe its simply being a hardcore people pleaser at heart?Whatever my reason and whatever yours, our quest to correctly answer every question can actually hold us back at work. You really dont know everything. Its hard to hear. I know, and Im sorry, but its true.You have to say, I dont know regularly, and heres why.Responding to questions under pressure or out of habit typically doesnt result in the most well thought-out answers. In the worst-case scenarios, a confidently-delivered wrong answer is dangerous and expensive. Most of the time, though, its just a colossal waste of time. I love not wasting time even more than I love having the right answer. Most other people feel the same.By always having an answer, you inadvertently undermine your credibility. This is because everyone else knows you dont know everything, and you start to look silly by always giving a confident answer, even when its obviously wrong. Your team would much rather you admit to not knowing something than fake it just for the sake of looking competent.But what if I actually do always know the answer to all the questions Im asked at work?, you ask. If you really feel that you have the answer for every issue that comes up at work, then Id argue youve stayed too long in your current role. If youve literally mastered every angle of the job, its time to go. Youre no longer challenging yourself. Move vertically to gain greater perspective and visibility, or move laterally to a different industry to up the challenge that way. Either strategy works to break out of stagnation.Instead of always providing an answer, I propose a simple strategy: Say I dont know when you dont know. Then, follow that statement with, ... and Im going to find out or ...Ill get back to you or ...what do you think?Now, this isnt an excuse not to prepare like crazy for questions you anticipate getting during your next big presentation. I recently saw an episode of Shark Tank where the contestant was turned down by Mark Cuban. During the question and answer portion after her pitch, she left no room for reflection or opening to take Cubans advice. She came off as arrogant because she had an answer for everything. He clearly wasnt interested in working with someone like her--and, based on what I saw, I wouldnt be either.The alternative is to think about your knowledge and ability to answer questions in three tiers: basic, stretch, and growth.You absolutely should have the basic, foundational knowledge needed to fulfill the role youre paid to play. You should stretch yourself and seek answers to all the questions up and around the edges of your expertise, the questions that youre able to anticipate but dont yet know the answer to. And, you should intentionally put yourself in situations that will challenge your thinking by exposing you to questions you couldnt possibly expect. These are the most fascinating, growth-sparking questions youll get. Theyre the most memorable. They stick with you and have the potential to change the course of your most important work.Seeking out the questions that will push you at work will not only make you grow as a person, it will also show your team that youre humble and willing to learn, two underrated but excellent qualities in a leader. Remember that saying I dont know every once in a while doesnt make you look incompetent--it will actually increase your teams trust that youre always giving the truest answer you can.If you liked this column, subscribe to email alerts in the Work Life Lab and youll never miss a post.The way we conduct meetings changed over night. Or has it?Given we are no longer able to meet in person, event organizers and professional speakers have been scrambling to recreate their live meetings using virtual platforms. In other words, automate what has been done in the past.If a speech was to be given in front of a live audience, it is now delivered as a webinar. Same content. Same delivery method. But now in front of a camera instead of 1,000 faces.Unfortunately, nearly every virtual meeting I have attended simply tried to replicate the face-to-face experience - and it failed.To create better meetings, we need to ask different questions. What if we didnt just replicate, but instead we innovated? Here are some questions that might get your thinking differently about your next virtual meeting: What can we do in virtual meetings that we cant do with live in-person meetings? How can we take full advantage of virtual options? For example, how can we take advantage of the ability to break people into smaller groups instantly - for short periods of time? How can we use polling to drive the direction of the conversation - and make real-time shifts in the content? What aspects of meetings do not require real-time participation? For those, what other options do we have for delivering that content? How can we maximize the value we get from the live virtual meeting? For example, how can we limit the live virtual experience to the interactive components, and deliver the rest via pre-recorded video that is sent prior to the meeting? How can we go beyond the meeting? What processes can we put in place to sustain results over the long-term? What happens after the event? For example, how can we get attendees to apply the concepts from the meting? How can we create cohorts that tackle real-world problems? How can we measure the actual impact of a meeting? How can we engage people long after the meeting is over? When we return to face-to-face meetings, what aspects of virtual meetings will continue to out-perform the in-person meeting? For example, how can we use technology before and after an event to maximize the value we get from the live meeting?This is just a starter list of questions. There are literally dozens (or hundreds) of different questions that you could ask that would reveal previously invisible solutions. The point is, dont simply replicate or automate what you have done in the past. Rethink the entire meeting experience: before, during, and after the event. Use technology the best way possible to get the best results. Sometimes the ideal solution isnt a live meeting.

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