Asking "stupid questions"

At the CiviCRM Users Affinity Group meeting this morning, there was a very interesting tangential discussion on how to create a space where people feel comfortable asking questions - and whether there are gender dynamics at play too. David Geilhufe, one of the presenters, stressed that the developers of CiviCRM want to hear the questions that end users and adminstrators (as opposed to the developers and programmers) have. However, many actual end users and administrators said they didn't feel like there was a space to ask those questions. Almost universally, people said they feared "asking a stupid question" on the CiviCRM developers e-mail list. One person said that she encouraged her staff to create pseudonymous e-mail accounts to post questions to the list, because they felt so uncomfortable posting from their organizational e-mail address! And, finally, someone raised the point that being a woman in technology compounded her anxiety about sending questions to an e-mail list of developers and programmers. Nods of assent around the room after this comment indicate that she is not alone in feeling this way. I think this is a really interesting issue - why are newbies and accidental techies and end users and administrators and women often so wary of asking the "wrong questions?" How can the creators of the technology tools that are ostensibly making nonprofits better and more efficient combat this fear, and make a safe space to ask questions? One tactic is to create a comprehensive forum of users with spaces for everyone from developers to end-users (like the Joomla Forum (to which, I admit, I have never posted a question)). I'm not sure how to proactively address gender concerns, but in the wake of the threats against blogger Kathy Sierra, I think it incredibly important to make sure that your e-mail list (or blog, or forum, or Web site) is a safe space. These dynamics are important for us at Kabissa to keep in mind, particularly as we look towards ways to encourage and facilitate communication and interaction between our members - I hope that no Kabissa member ever feels like they can't ask a question of us, or of a fellow Kabissa member. If you've seen examples of e-mail lists or user groups that are really good at engaging people, and empowering their users to ask questions, I'd love to hear about them.

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