Conclusions
85. Is Socrates to Blame?
Use of the Socratic method39 improves critical thinking. Socrates, who lived from 469 to 399 B.C.E., employed many different types of questions as a method of developing within respondents conclusions they would otherwise not have drawn. This “method” has been a staple of the teaching profession ever since.
Raise your hand if you know who Anytus was. If you are also familiar with Meletus and Lycon, you get extra credit. These are the three guys who brought legal proceedings against Socrates. They were responsible for the death of a 71-year-old man because they viewed him as a threat. Why? Because he asked questions! These three guys had all the answers. The last thing they wanted was questions.
Socrates was forced to drink a poison because, among other crimes, he was found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens. He generally did this by showing them the folly of their elders! His questions and his method of asking (and his manners) were often unsociable—he relished the opportunity to make an ass of people, particularly of people he did not like or whom he felt were inferior (which meant everybody). His questions were often embarrassing and rude, even for the standards of ancient Greece, where even the gods could behave in an undignified and unsociable manner. However, he was, nonetheless, a threat because he asked questions.
Socrates challenged people constantly by peppering them with questions of logic, of critical thought. He probed, asking follow-up after follow-up question until his targets would surrender, not because he forced them to accept his position but because he was able to show them how inane their beliefs were.
These three guys—Anytus, Meletus, and Lycon—thought they had all the answers (and Socrates, all the questions). They thought that life would improve in Athens without all his questioning. Just how successful were these guys? Well, look around. Does Zeus still rule the world? Can you still settle a debt by sacrificing a chicken or a gerbil?
Socrates’ questions were intended as tests that no one could really pass. His desire was to demonstrate to those in positions of knowledge, power, or authority that no matter how much they thought they knew, they were ignorant and that it was much better for everyone involved in their enterprise to admit their ignorance right up front.
“Ignorance for failing the tests,” as Socrates might say.
The Socratic Manager
The Socratic manager asks questions proceeding from what is known to what is not; it’s a forward-moving query. To paraphrase his method: Seek always to establish where you are now in knowledge—your understanding of markets, programs, marketing, sales, operations, and your business in general.
Socratic management is based on what is known as Socratic irony. It starts with a profession of ignorance. Socrates, for instance, might have managers attend a meeting and probe for where a lack of knowledge exists. Then, instead of the usual moment of revealed wisdom that strikes managers in retreat types of meetings, there might be a moment of revealed ignorance. From this profession of ignorance stems his method of questioning.
The mission of Socrates was to rid people of the illusion of knowledge—there was always something that they did not know, even about an area in which they were considered expert.
Many Managers Have Been Given Horses to Manage
A horse is a liability to a person who tries to manage it without having enough knowledge.
—Socrates
The knowledge gained by managing in one situation in one particular business may not be transportable to the next one, particularly if the manager proceeds from the premise that useful knowledge was gained in the last assignment.
Perhaps it would be much better to begin from the premise that you have a horse and that you don’t know much about managing horses. Therefore, it would be useful to start by questioning rather than any other course of action. Got a new horse? Start asking questions all over again. Every horse is different (different personality, different breed, and so on).
Socrates always requested frankness whenever he was asking questions. “Do be frank about answering whatever I may ask of you.” Although this is often expected in business, it’s not always the case.
The Socratic manager might, for instance, view presentations as inquiries rather than as discussions. Too often, I have watched a senior manager, a leader in the business, page through a copy of a presentation inquiring not one bit into any of the cogent details of the arguments included, but merely looking at the results—the financial forecasts—and asking questions about these outcomes as if they were real.
Management Wisdom
Every man is wise only in respect of that which he knows.
—Socrates
Although Socrates worked to find a basis for ignorance, Taylor40 worked from a basis of knowledge. In either case, it is necessary to proceed forward by asking questions. To dispel the notion that knowledge makes a person wise, the following conversation was recorded by Plato, between Socrates and Euthydemus.
S: Tell me, do you think a wise man is wise in relation to what he knows, or are some people wise in relation to what they do not know?
E: Obviously, they are wise in relation to what they know. How could anyone be wise in relation to what he does not know?
S: Then, are they wise because of their knowledge?
E: What else could make them wise?
S: And do you think that wisdom is anything other than what makes people wise?
E: No, I do not.
E: So it seems to me.
S: Do you think it is possible for a human being to know everything there is?
E: No, indeed.
S: So, it isn’t possible for a human being to be wise in respect of everything?
E: No, certainly not.
S: Then, every wise man is wise only in respect of that which he knows.
E: So it (now) seems to me.
And so it was that Socrates proved to Euthydemus that we are all unwise, all ignorant in that which we do not know in spite of the fact that there are many people who are considered wise. Socrates would have us believe that these people are wise because they ask questions rather than have answers, because one cannot have all the answers.
The same things [knowledge] are assets if one knows how to make use of them, and they are not assets if one doesn’t.
—Socrates41
Make better use of your assets. Ask questions.
86 Conclusions and Final Recommendations
My premise is that asking questions is a discipline that managers need to learn. Some people are naturals, but even they need to think about improving or adding to the techniques that come easily to them. The rest of us must work at it.
I once attended a corporate meeting of business leaders from a large multinational major company. It was convened to address a serious problem in the company. Everyone was expressing concern about the lack of information. As the meeting wore on, it became clear that a consensus was building around the need to hire a firm to “go find answers for us.”
What?
Bullshit! We have all the answers we need right in front of us.
This time it was not me irritating everyone in the room, but one of the older directors—a guy “on his way out,” so to speak. He was bullet-proof. He could say and do almost anything short of the unethical, immoral, or illegal, and he was still going to retire soon with a full pension.
He went on to explain:
We have all the answers. This company employs tens of thousands of people all over the world. There isn’t anything about the business that we do not understand. How can there be? Just get out there and ask for it! You will get all the answers you want—and quick, too.
Just ask. That is the simple conclusion of this book. Just ask!
Of course, you need to know what to ask, how to ask it, of whom and under the right circumstances, and so on. “Just asking” will get “just answers.” What you want are the answers you need to improve the business, solve the problem, or develop a new idea.
To put this simple singular conclusion into effect, I suggest these simple guidelines in summary:
- Enter all situations thinking about what you don’t know.
- Consider all others with whom you speak as equals. They might not have your title or responsibility, but they know what you don’t, and they are probably expert at it. You need them.
- Be yourself. Don’t fake a question or adopt a style because of this text or any other. Be yourself. If a style or type of question doesn’t fit you, choose one that does.
- Always thank people for their answers. Do so even if the questioning was contentious or particularly difficult. This will go further in establishing your legitimacy as a manager—as a leader—than your skill as an interrogator.
No footnotes appear on the bottom line of an annual report explaining to the reader that good questions were asked that revealed great answers and improved business performance. People might not even remember who asked the right questions. Over time, however, the business will perform better, with better questions from all levels of management.