Asking Redundant Questions

[achtungbaby]

This is related to my other thread on playing politics (which I just posted 1 min ago, I'm on a roll):

Do you ask redundant questions in meetings? I used to friggen HATE meetings because it seemed like (and I'm probably going to get flak for this) the white guys were always asking the dumb ass questions. Example:

Client: "We want the proposed system to have an interface that's very intuitive to our end-users."

Dumb Question Asker: "So if I understand you correctly, you want your users to be able to use this proposed system intuitively?"

I used to cringe when I heard these types of questions and want to swat the people who asked them: "Don't ask that moronic question, you'll look like an imbecile!"

That's when I realized that sometimes you NEED to ask redundant questions, otherwise, if you just sit silent, nod your head and assure your clients or colleagues that you understand where they're coming from, they'll wet their pants.

[ChinaLama]

i guess if the white guy was mad skilled, he'd make it sound like he;s clarifying the point when he's really just repeating it. ;)

[Craig]

I typically get the impression that the person asking questions like that is an idiot f***head who should be fired so some competent person could get the job and earn his keep.



<!--EDIT|Craig|Oct 7 2002, 01:47 AM-->

[deez nuts]

Most meetings, I'm half asleep. No one really asks questions, because we want to get out of there asap. Unless nothing serious came up that week, everyone's goal is to get out of there. But if something came up, you might be in there for hours and you pray your pager would go off.

Any redundant questions asked is met with a prompt swift kick in the ass when the meetong is over.

I hate Thursdays, our weekly meeting, gotta wear a suit and tie. Discuss patient care etc etc etc. Zzzzzzzzzzz.



<!--EDIT|Chasiubao_Boy|Oct 6 2002, 05:35 PM-->

[angel nympho]

I think you should as redundant questions just in case you do what they want, but they still decide to yell at you for doing it wrong. If you ask a stupid question, you can make sure that THEY know that you did what you were told. Did that make ANY sense to anybody besides me?

[kasia]

asking redundant questions in meetings: job for white people. that's a generalization, but i've never encountered an asian that does it.

also, have you ever taken a summer class at a community college? the people who ask the most redundant questions there are the fat white people who sit in the front row--usually around 30-40 years old. why is that?

[amietron]

true dat, kasia!

but yesterday at chico state, there was this fat black woman whose ass was too big for the seat (it was hanging out from the sides) who asked the stupid questions. i was shadowing my friend and we so happened to be in a calculus class. my gawwwwd.

they want their presence acknowledged, i think.



<!--EDIT|amietron|Oct 8 2002, 09:50 AM-->

[amietron]

i think sometimes asking redundant questions can be seen as beneficial. it ensures the customer or whomever that you are indeed paying attention to the problem/issue at hand and not just shaking your head or sitting there staring into space. that's just me. i dunno bout the rest of ya. other times if you ask them, it's kinda like "do you not comprehend anything, ya jackass?" gotta know when to ask and when not to, i guess. timing is everything.

[mrazntre]

it's just like that one VW Passat commercial.......

[thaite]

So let me just get this straight: You dislike when people ask redundant questions -- is that correct?

[bluecollarjap]

i guess its sometimes to make it sound like your paying attention. when i tell a story to any female friends they usually say "yeah, ah hum, really". so if the client says "We want the proposed system to have an interface that's very intuitive to our end-users."
and the guy says in return "oh yeah really, so you want your users to be able to use this proposed system intuitively?"

maybe?

or the guy is just plain dumb. reminds me of a time in anthro class when the prof just described how something was really a phallic symbol. some dumb ass in the front 1 minute later, trying to make a scholarly observation, said "i believe this is a phallic symbol"