Don't be an "Ask-hole"

Aug 10, 2021

Do you have a friend who is constantly consumed with drama and wants your advice but ignores it? Do you have an employee who asks 1 million questions about their job, but never has a solution? 

Then you, my friend, have an Ask Hole. 

In this week’s 2 Per-Specht-ives Podcast, David and Joshua Specht apply their generational knowledge to help you deal with Ask Hole friends and coworkers.

Your generational lesson: It’s okay to ask questions, but Ask Holes who constantly ask and don’t heed advice require straight forwardness on your answer, limited access to you and your bandwidth, training and assessment, and possibly even termination.

Your Gen. X Advice: You can’t have Ask Holes that require micromanaging in your business because then you will never scale beyond your current situation.

Your Gen. Z Advice: To help the Ask Hole who constantly asks questions for every minor detail, you have to put it back on them and ask, “What would you do?” 

Trying to legitimately help an Ask Hole and having your advice ignored, or even seeing them do the exact opposite, is infuriating. Here are steps to avoid the frustration that comes with Ask Holes:

1. Shut it down — If the Ask Hole doesn't take your advice, you have to shut them down. You gave your best input and if they don’t acknowledge it, then you have to save your mental brain power.
2. Be straightforward without being rude — If the Ask Hole won’t heed your advice, you have to tell them not to waste your time by repeatedly asking the same question and not accepting your answer.
3. Are they really an Ask Hole? — Every business has some specific things to it that requires knowledge, so it takes seven interactions to assess whether they really don’t know or are an Ask Hole.
4. Train your people — Tell the Ask Hole you don’t need questions, you need solutions. You’re not asking them to have all the answers, but they need to exhaust all other options and be open to your solution before asking.
5. Are you an Ask Hole? — If you’re the Ask Hole, you need to step back, take the time to think things through, and trust yourself to have the confidence to solve problems. It’s okay to ask questions, but at some point you need to start building your own knowledge and creating your own solutions.