Asking risky questions can lead to discomfort or even embarrassment, and the business culture has conditioned people to avoid those outcomes. However, by sidestepping such questions, risk is increased, warns Michael Santarcangelo in a post at CSO magazine.

"In the security industry, we often avoid asking risky questions. In the process, we increase our risk by missing out on opportunities to learn, to change our perspective and to build a series of shared experiences necessary for continued success," Santarcangelo writes.

Three possible outcomes are likely to result from asking a lot of questions: First, you learn something; second, your perspective changes; and third, you end up with more questions arising out of your new knowledge. No matter what, you increase communication, which in itself reduces risk.

Asking risky questions comes with the added benefit of relieving everyone else who had the same questions but were too afraid to ask.

For more:
- see Michael Santarcangelo's post at CSO

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