Stop Saying “I Don’t Know”. Say These Instead!

We always talk about being honest. Because sometimes, you really don’t have a single clue as to what your manager is asking. If honesty is what we preach, by right the answer should be “I don’t know”. After all, it shows that you don’t beat around the bush and you’re honest, right?

Hmm… wrong. Let’s be honest again: When you say “I don’t know”, it just doesn’t sound good – it makes you come across as inexperienced, unprofessional, and worst of all, unprepared. If you think that by saying I don’t know means you get to move on and escape the conversation, boy are you wrong. Claiming your ignorance will backfire! Sure, you’re not expected to know everything but that doesn’t mean you show your hand. Instead, here are three other ways to answer that question so you still look good, even if you really don’t have an answer.

“Let me find out for you.”
In our books, this is probably the best response. Why? For starters, you’re not stretching the truth by saying you know something – you are indirectly stating the lack of enough knowledge to answer the query. And secondly – which is the best – it shows that you are willing to put in extra work to find out the answer for your manager. Which is assuring management that they have someone in their team who would go the extra mile, do the work, and report back with the answer. This makes you look like a cooperative and valuable team player.

“Here’s what I do know.”
An especially handy answer if you’re being asked something completely out of your books or league. It can be frustrating if someone asks you a question and while you do have some answers, you unfortunately don’t have the answer for that question. But you don’t want to paint yourself as incompetent by saying “I don’t know”. Instead, you still want to assert some form of knowledge and credibility. So here’s where you would say what we are suggesting.

It works like this: When someone asks you about an idea you’re proposing but you’re not clear on some details that are not within your scope, you say, “Here’s what I do know as I’ve worked on this other part of that idea.” Then proceed to share your thoughts and information. How this works is that it makes sure all of your hard work and research don’t go to waste… and that you don’t appear as incompetent simply because you don’t know Part A of a project when you know Part B, C, D and E.

“Hmmm, why don’t we ask ...”
Sure, it may seem like you’re shifting the blame game to someone else but if done correctly, you’ll get away with it! When you say it this way, you’re also owning up to the fact that you don’t have quite all the information but you do know who will have the right answers. That already puts you ahead of the standard “I don’t know” answer as it shows that you know what’s happening just that you don’t quite have the right answer to that particular question. It’s not shirking responsibility or trying to pass the buck. Instead, you’re just redirecting that answer to the person with the best answer – and that’s going to work in everyone’s favour.

Photo by Zan Lazarevic on Unsplash.