Don't generic, people know.

"We want to get it out today, so we're just doing a generic survey to find out how our staff see our culture." Actual comment last week. How often does this happen! In a recent Masterclass, Michael Lewis who wrote the hit movie Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, said that when you ask a great question, the other person knows it. They know. It makes them think. People appreciate an interesting considered question. People know it's a generic survey. Generic surveys demands generic replies. A generic survey requires a generic answer, generic output and generic results. So little time is put into the quality of the question. We expect people to use their most precious commodity, their time, in order to find out about THEIR thoughts and especially their feelings, yet we put no time into the questions we ask. Maybe the company sending a generic survey actually don't really want to know what their people think. Maybe it's just a matter of being able to tick the box. Photo Jon Tyson thank you.