My name is Mikel and I have a hard time saying “no” (Except when people ask if I want extra cheese).

I have trouble saying the word “no” to people, and admitting I don’t always know the answer to their question. I’ve always had the mindset that saying “no” meant admitting fault or a weakness, as the word innately has a negative connotation.

As I grow personally and professionally, I am realizing that using “no” (admitting a fault or weakness I have) allows me to acknowledge and learn. One experience that really resonated with me, was when Jeremy (our Product Manager, for those of you new here) presented at our weekly Standup meeting. He shared a story from the book, “Think Like a Freak,” by Levitt and Dubner…

Don’t be embarrassed by how much you don’t know
Imagine you are asked to listen to a simple story and then answer a few questions about it. Here’s the story: a little girl named Mary goes to the beach with her mother and brother. They drive there in a red car. At the beach, they swim, eat some ice cream, play in the sand and have sandwiches for lunch.

Now the questions: what colour was the car? Did they have fish and chips for lunch? Did they listen to music in the car? Did they drink lemonade with lunch?

All right, how did you do? Let’s compare your answers with those of a bunch of British schoolchildren, aged five to nine, who were given this quiz by academic researchers. Nearly all the children got the first two questions right (“red” and “no”). But the children did much worse with questions three and four. Why? Those questions were unanswerable – there simply wasn’t enough information given in the story. And yet a whopping 76% of the children answered these questions either yes or no.

It’s okay to admit we don’t know everything. Now without trying to make an excuse or talk around the fact, I can say, “That’s a great question… no, I don’t know the answer. But I will find it for you.”

No one’s perfect, and no one has the answer to all questions – so do yourself a favor, as I am trying — admit it, find the answer, and learn something new. Isn’t that the point of Every Day is a School Day, anyway?!