© 2024 WEMU
Serving Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, MI
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Art & Soul: The Art Of Well Being - "All You Have To Do Is Ask" Is Most Important Skill For Success

Dr. Wayne Baker
/
allyouhavetodoisask.com

This week, "Art and Soul" is about the art of well being.  WEMU's Lisa Barry talks with author and University of Michigan professor Dr. Wayne Baker about ways to ask for help and how that can lead to co-creating solutions at work and in other parts of your life.

About "All You Have to Do is Ask" by Wayne Baker

Wayne Baker
Credit Dr. Wayne Baker / allyouhavetodoisask.com
/
allyouhavetodoisask.com
"All You Have to Do is Ask: How to Master the Most Important Skill for Success" by Dr. Wayne Baker

Imagine you’re on a deadline for a big project, and feeling overwhelmed. Or you’re looking for a new job, but can’t seem to get your foot in the door.  Or you’re facing a personal challenge, and just don’t know what to do. What do these problems have in common?  They can all be solved simply by reaching out to a colleague, friend, acquaintance, or wider network and making an ask.  Studies show that asking for help makes us better and less frustrated at our jobs.  It helps us find new opportunities and new talent.  It unlocks new ideas and solutions, and enhances team performance.  And it helps us get the things we need outside the workplace as well.  And yet, we rarely give ourselves permission to ask.  Luckily, the research shows that asking—and getting—what we need is much easier than we think.

Here, Wayne Baker shares dozens of tools—used at companies like Google, GM, and IDEO—that individuals, teams, and leaders can use to make asking for help a personal and organizational habit, such as:  SMART criteria for making an ask, “plug-and-play” routines that make requests a standard component of meetings, mini-games that incentivize asking within teams, and the Reciprocity Ring, a guided activity that allows people to tap into the giving power of a network.

Wayne Baker
Credit Lisa Barry / 89.1 WEMU
/
89.1 WEMU
Dr. Wayne Baker at the WEMU studio

Resources:

"All You Have to Do is Ask"

"All You Have to Do is Ask" - Asking-Giving Assessment

"All You Have to Do is Ask" Journey Infographic

Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support.  Make your donation to WEMU todayto keep your community NPR station thriving.

Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu

Lisa Barry was a reporter, and host of All Things Considered on 89.1 WEMU.
Related Content