Niki May Young ponders the importance of being able to ask the silly questions.

We’ve all been there. Sat in a meeting with our peers where one is talking, the others are all nodding, and we’re looking at them all thinking, “What on earth does that mean?” But what do we do? Do we put up our hand and ask the silly question? The reality is, most of us don’t. Afraid of losing face, or seeming naïve or incompetent, we sit back and slowly start to join the nodding dogs surrounding us. But what are the consequences of ignoring your ignorance?

Speaking at a CFG event ahead of the launch of the Making it Count report into financial management in small charities yesterday afternoon Peter Gotham, head of charities at MacIntyre Hudson accountants, said that charities mustn’t be afraid to ask the silly questions, it’s a key part of managing risk and uncertainty.

Citing the example of the ill-fated Enron, whose chair of the audit committee was a British chartered accountant, Gotham said: “I bet, looking back, he wished silly questions to be asked at that audit committee.”

Gotham said successful risk management is all about open minds, open ears…and beer (as a metaphor for relaxing inhibitions).

“If as a team, we’re not able to discuss the finances openly, if as a team, we’re not able to manage the governance and deal with difficult questions then we’ll be in a position that some families get into when they either are dysfunctional because they can’t say the difficult things to one another, or alternatively are just at daggers drawn. We need to have financial information that is accessible, where people feel willing to ask silly questions,” he said.

Peter makes the same point that I learned back in journalism school, that has stuck with me throughout my career: Nobody knows everything, not even close, but nobody will know anything if they're too afraid to ask the questions.