If the world is your classroom then everyone has something to teach you.

I learned this lesson through a short 30-minute phone call with Michael Seibel, the CEO of Y Combinator, on November 30th, 2016.

Procrastinating on homework, I sent a cold email to Seibel asking him one simple question: “what would you do if you were my age again?” 72-hours later, I was on the phone hearing the answer straight from the horses mouth. Getting that phone call taught me that asking the right questions to the right people at the right time allows anyone to be your teacher. Now, whenever I am in a conversation I use a framework I developed to ask IMPACT questions.

Ignorance: to ask a great question, be an ignorant student to the interlocutor who is teaching you.

Memory: do you research and tailor your questions: ask questions only they can answer.

Purpose: be cognizant of how you start your questions and the reason why you are asking it.

Authority: people love to be experts: assume everyone has something to teach you.

Clarity: the most important part of asking a question is to know what type of answer you want.

Timely: questions are asked in a broader, social, political, economic, and cultural context: be aware of the time, space, and dimensions your question lies.

The world is your classroom, so ask it IMPACT questions of everyone.

- MB

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