“Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back.” – A proverb made modern by Eugene O’Neill.
Have you ever asked a question at work and were surprised by the answer? Over the course of my career, this has happened many times. Sometimes, the answer was genuinely new to me. Other times, I was surprised that someone thought the answer they provided was legitimate. In both cases, I learned something.
To contrast this, my father used to say, “Never ask a question you don’t know the answer to.” For many years this confused me. How could I learn if I only asked about what I already knew? How could I ever know so much that nothing ever surprised me? I eventually realized what I think he meant and learned not to take it quite so literally. I believe he was suggesting that I could use the power of asking questions not only to understand the world myself but also to help others gain understanding.
Working in safety, I rely heavily on questions as one of my key tools. My curiosity drives me to understand what's happening in any situation. I ask questions to discover if there might be better or safer approaches. When investigating incidents, my questions help determine what occurred and how to prevent similar problems in the future — or how to replicate positive outcomes when things went well.
For me, there are two key reasons to ask questions. I classify these as either seeking to learn or seeking to teach.
What do I mean by seeking to learn?
This is where we ask questions to understand what's happening. We express our curiosity through questions aimed at discovering new information. These are questions to which we genuinely don't know the answers — creating authentic opportunities for growth and development. Through this process, we experience the profound satisfaction that comes with expanding our knowledge.
What does seeking to teach mean?
These are fundamentally different questions. We already know the answers before asking them. This questioning approach is valuable for helping others understand their actions in a non-threatening manner and make corrections when needed. It allows people to reach realizations on their own. When we discover something for ourselves, we're much more likely to remember it and learn from the experience. So, if I see someone doing a task in a way that I think might be wrong, I don’t tell them they are wrong, I ask them to take me through what they are doing. This allows them to think through the process as they explain it to me. They can discover their mistake themselves and put steps in place to fix it. This self-discovery is much more powerful than being told they are wrong.
A similar approach I take when people insist a specific incident couldn't happen to them is asking, "How could it happen?" This redirects the conversation toward examining controls and their effectiveness rather than simply dismissing the possibility. Again, this method helps people reach their own realizations, which firmly embeds the lessons learned.
How we ask questions matters. Closed questions allow the responder to answer with a simple yes or no, while open questions require more interaction. Sometimes, closed questions are what we need — we just need an immediate answer. But if we are seeking to learn or teach, we need more interaction. And we need to ensure we ask in non-threatening ways.
For example, asking, "Why did you do that?" can come across as confrontational and accusatory. Instead, saying, "Can you take me through it?" focuses more on understanding the process and creates shared accountability by including both 'you' and 'me' in the conversation. The effectiveness of our questions — and, therefore, our ability to learn or uncover information — depends heavily on how we communicate with others. Though it seems simple, words carry significant meaning, and we need to remain mindful of this.
So while curiosity may have killed the cat, I find real meaning in the idea that satisfaction brought him back. This captures the true importance of being curious. The cat was so fulfilled by discovering the answer that he returned to life. We must find that balance between our genuine curiosity to learn and grow our capabilities while also helping others along their own journey of discovery.
What questions could you ask to seek to learn? How could you use questions to seek to teach in your workplace?
