Ask Me One Question a Day: Engineering Mentorship That Works

One of the simplest things I ask of my staff is this: ask me one question every day.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be about the project we’re working on. And it definitely doesn’t have to be something you think you’re supposed to ask.

Just ask me something you don’t know.

It could be technical. It could be about how EVstudio works, or a client, or a project. Ask how we make money, why we do something a certain way, or what I got wrong earlier in my career.

If you don’t know something and you think I might have the answer, ask. That’s the whole system. No sign-up sheet, no curriculum — just the simplest version of engineering mentorship I know.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Early in your career, you don’t always know what you’re supposed to be learning. That’s the real problem, and it’s the one a daily question solves.

I’ve been doing this long enough that some things happen automatically. I walk onto a jobsite, see something, and know immediately that I want a closer look.

Someone newer walks right past it.

That’s not a capability gap. They simply haven’t had the experiences that taught them what to look for yet.

Questions transfer those experiences faster than anything else I’ve found. When someone asks, “Why did you look at that?” my answer might take 30 seconds. Behind that 30 seconds sit years of projects, mistakes, successes, and lessons.

That’s a pretty good return on one question.

There Are No Stupid Questions

People hesitate because they think they should already know the answer.

I’d rather they ask.

If you’re wondering about something, chances are good that someone else is wondering too. And the simplest questions often lead to the best conversations:

• Why do we do it this way?
• How did you know that was wrong?
• Why did we design it like that?
• How do we decide what to charge a client?
• What would you have done differently?
• How did you learn that?

Those conversations rarely stop at the original question.

Your Question Doesn’t Have to Be About Engineering

This is my favorite part of the idea. If you’re asking one question a day, don’t limit yourself to technical ones.

Ask about the business. Ask why a proposal reads a certain way, or why we said yes to one project and no to another. Ask how we handle an unhappy client, or how I screwed something up ten years ago.

Ask what I’d do if I were in your position.

Technical knowledge obviously matters in architecture, engineering, and construction. But clients, communication, relationships, risk, and business are what turn a good employee into someone who can lead. Good engineering mentorship covers both.

250 Questions a Year

One question doesn’t sound like much.

Ask one every workday, though, and you’ve asked roughly 250 in a year. That’s 250 things you know now that you didn’t know before.

Realistically, it’s more. A good question rarely produces just one piece of information.

One question turns into a conversation. The conversation leads to another question. Someone overhears it and joins in. Now we’re talking about a project from five years ago, why something failed, and how we do it differently today.

All because somebody asked.

It Makes the Person Answering Better, Too

Here’s the part I didn’t appreciate at first. A good question stops me cold and makes me think: why do we do it that way?

Explaining something forces you to understand it better yourself.

Sometimes I realize I don’t have a great answer. Sometimes the honest answer is, “That’s how we’ve always done it.” Usually that’s a sign we should take another look.

The best questions develop the person asking. They also challenge the person answering.

Curiosity Is the Career Advantage

I can teach a process. I can show someone how to perform an inspection, review a drawing, document a condition, or work through a problem.

Curiosity is much harder to teach.

The people I’ve watched grow fastest are the ones who want to understand why. They don’t just want the answer — they want to know how you got there, what you noticed, and what happens next.

And they aren’t afraid to ask.

Mentorship Doesn’t Need a Program

At EVstudio, our vision is to make a great IMPACT on our Built Environment, our Clients, and Each Other.

Making an impact on each other doesn’t always require a formal training session or a mentoring program. Sometimes it’s much simpler than that.

Find someone who knows something you don’t, and ask them a question.

If you’re on my crew, make it one a day. I promise I’ll do my best to give you an answer. And every so often, you’ll ask one that makes me say: “I don’t know. Let’s figure it out.”

Those might be the best questions of all.

Read more about the culture at EVstudio: https://evstudio.com/about/