This one came up in my ‘Back to School’ post yesterday but has been bubbling around in my head for a week now.
It started when a connection liked a post on LinkedIn. It was a post sharing this video https://www.instagram.com/p/Chj2E57g2Tu/ where a US senator is questioning the CEO of Google about its ability to track people.
The question was ‘I have an iPhone, and if I move from here to over there… does google track my movement’
He just did not want to hear the ‘not by default’ as an answer. He was not going to accept anything other than a YES that he believed to be the true. He did not want to consider that the question (or the information needed to answer is) needs to be more complex.
But he was not alone. The entire thread (now at 710 comments, 525 Shares, and 2577 reactions) was littered with people replying ‘of course google knows’
My response on LinkedIn was:
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Mr. Pichai should have answered "I'm from google not apple, or your cell provider"
This is someone who does not know anything asking a question and not wanting to hear the answer.
It's a bit like asking someone from Halfords if my Ford has OEM or aftermarket car mats. Even if you asked Ford they could not tell you without looking.
a) It's an iPhone using a version of iOS, ask apple what they know and track (via gps and cell)
b) Ask your network contract provider what they track via cell tower usage
c) Declare what google products you have on your iPhone and if the settings let them track your location (when using and not using the app)
If you ask crap questions don't expect yes or no answers.
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As it turns out the clip is actually from senate interviews back in around 2018 (maybe before), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-lMIGV-dUI and there are other questions where Mr. Pichai does actually point out the iPhone is made by a different company.
But here we are 4 years later with the same ‘It’s obviously YES’ mentality from a large number of people.
Questions should be used to increase your knowledge, not attempt to prove your point. And to do this you need to hear the answer.
#businesscoaching #askquestions #hearanswers
What are you doing?
One of the big questions about this project is explained in more depth on Day 4