Engaging with "Humble Inquiry" in the lab

How asking meaningful questions can help scientists grow

This post was written in collaboration with Andrea Chiarelli - check out his piece on Humble Inquiry in his newsletter! andreachiarelli.substack.com/p/the-power-of-not-knowing

A few weeks ago, Andrea reached out about co-writing something on Humble Inquiry. I’ll admit, I had to look it up. But after a quick Google and a read through the article he sent me (link here), I realized I’ve both experienced it as a trainee and actively use it when mentoring junior scientists.

In essence, Humble Inquiry is about asking instead of telling. It helps people find their own answers rather than having solutions handed to them. And it builds trust in the process! When we ask with genuine curiosity, we shift from directing others to working alongside them.

If you’re curious to learn more, Andrea’s post is a great place to start. Keep reading to find out about my own experience with this powerful approach.

As a mentee:

When I first started working in the lab full time, I quickly noticed that one of the things I struggled with the most was asking meaningful questions. It seemed that it came to my more senior lab mates so easily. “How can they think of these so easily?” I would think. In hindsight, I realized that asking curious questions takes time.

My lab mates often practiced Humble Inquiry without even knowing it. If I presented them with confusing data, they would always ask me a series of questions:

How did you do this experiment?

What were the steps?

What were you initially expecting?

What do you think went wrong?

Having such conversations with my lab mates taught me to ask myself such questions when reviewing new data or working through trouble with a protocol. Further, I became more confident and began asking questions in lab meetings or working with others to troubleshoot their projects just as my more senior lab mates did.

As a mentor:

As a mentor, I’ve implemented multiple aspects of Humble Inquiry. First, I actively listen to my mentees and try to form a friendly relationship with them. I acknowledge their thoughts and even take time to ask them follow-up questions when relevant. This has shifted the relationship from teacher and student to teammates. I find that this has allowed my mentees to trust me more, leading them to open up and share challenges and hardships that they face.

Further, I ask them curiosity-driven questions when they are having trouble figuring out a problem. This typically occurs when we work on writing personal statements or applications for summer programs. Rather than telling my mentees what to write about or what experiences to highlight, I ask them a few questions:

What kind of story do you want to tell here?

What experiences do you think are best to talk about?

In what way will you stand out as a member of this program?

Often, this questioning has led my mentees to write about something they may not have thought of upon writing their first draft. I have found that utilizing Humble Inquiry in this setting makes my mentees engage with the prompt they are trying to answer more creatively.

As researchers, we ask questions for a living. But reflecting on what Humble Inquiry means to me revealed the importance of asking questions even in our everyday interactions. When we show interest in the work of others, we all work better as a team. Further, we learn hands-on by solving problems instead of quickly receiving an answer.

Thank you for reading about my experiences with Humble Inquiry. Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments. Share about how you engage with this process in your day-to-day in the comments!