If you need to ask you don't know
Years ago someone I look(ed) up to and admire was given a car by a car company and talked about it briefly in a blog post.
This was way before influencers became a thing.
She was in a completely different category, talked and wrote about stuff that had nothing to do with cars, technology, or anything really remotely connected to the mission of the company that gave her the car.
I, wanting to get on her radar, sent her a note and said: "Why did xx give you a car?" (at the time I did not know how to engage with people that well :-) )
She sent a one-liner back: "if you need to ask, you don't know"
My heart sank: 1) did I just blow it with her? 2) "You idiot Peter, you should have known!!"
But, I learned a bunch of stuff:
- if you want to get to know someone, don't try to be clever, just tell them what you want
- she did not know me from Adam, yet she responded, so either I pissed her off, or she wanted to teach me something
- don't ask questions quickly and lightly, think things through before asking
(I ended up getting to know her (it was not Dolly Parton) well, and she was very willing to share her experience and network with me. We still laugh at my original question)
