Using Open Questions to Prevent Disasters
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During the early parts of my PhD I destroyed a lot of equipment in the lab. I was impatient and I didn’t understand what I was doing. For example, to clean the FPLC (Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography) machine I had to run 2 litres of water through it before switching to ethanol. However, 2 litres sounded like a ridiculously large amount, and it took a lot of time — so I cut it in half. Unfortunately, the previous buffers had not been washed away by the time the ethanol entered the system and salt crystals crashed out, ruining the machine. I was ignorant. I was unaware of the consequences of my actions. Awareness is a powerful thing — it can prevent stupid mistakes. Further, awareness is a prerequisite for change. Once I became aware that I sucked at lab work I decided to change course. I decided to focus on learning how to do computational research. Are you aware of your strengths and weaknesses? Do you know what skills you want to develop further? If not you may want to try rephrasing the closed questions above as open questions. What are my strengths and weaknesses? What skills do I want to develop further? Open questions are an excellent tool for promoting awareness. Below are links to two posts of mine that feature open questions, awareness and learning. The Power of Open Questions – These are questions that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no response. An open question forces the responder to think, and is a powerful way to raise someone’s awareness. 6 leadership activities to promote learning – This post summarises three learning models. An understanding of these models can help accelerate learning. Stay awesome! 😃 Best wishes, PS – If you have students working in your lab make sure they understand the reasons behind the steps in your protocols. 😕🧪💸 PPS – Open questions are a great way to validate that people have understood. To see this, compare the closed and open questions below: Do you understand? vs. So what will happen if you run less than 2 litres of water through the FPLC before switching to ethanol? |