28 Oct “Because of the Indians”
I was a curious child (teenager, adult) and eager to learn about the world around me, so I asked questions—a LOT of questions. Many of these questions, such as “Why is the sky blue?” flummoxed my poor mother. In response to these complex questions, she often answered, “Because of the Indians.” This always shut me up, because I had to really think about how they did it. To this day, I have enormous respect for the Indians. They were responsible for a lot of things, including the color of the sky. On a side note, this response backfired on my mom when my little sister used it in response to one of her teachers’ questions, landing mom in a parent/teacher meeting.
Last week one of the first assignments for this Digital Literacies class was to take a baseline survey that measured our self-assessment of digital literacies and attitude toward workplace learning. The survey results did not surprise me, but they did make me chuckle because they identified one of my biggest personal weaknesses—asking for help (fig. 1). I was reminded of my Algebra grades in high school, tarnishing my straight-A lineup.
I should clarify this by saying I am not shy about asking for help in some areas: So, I take a right at the Burger King? The Easy-Off® Oven Cleaner is on Aisle 23A? Can you open this jar? What is the Alexa command to turn off this light?
I’ve always had an independent nature, and I am a natural problem solver. My instinct is to forge ahead and tackle the problem. When I can’t figure it out on my own, I scour the internet. Asking for help in my personal life is one thing; asking for help in the workplace is quite another. I am used to coworkers asking me for help, which I gladly give. Asking a person for help when I need it myself is different.
I met my class project teammate this week and got to know her a bit. I found a kindred spirit who is also deficient in the help-seeking area. Why do we both struggle with this concept? After a brief deliberation, we concluded it is because we are Type A personalities. We would rather solve a problem on our own rather than bother someone else with our difficulties and take up their valuable time. We resolved to ask the other for help if we need it. Somehow getting permission from my teammate to ask questions was a great relief.
To narrow this gap in my workplace help-seeking skill set, I will pose more questions to the colleagues around me sooner rather than later or even at all. It may be quicker than looking it up online or in a manual.
fig. 1 Self-assessment results