Recall vs. Recognition

You know what it's like - someone asks you a fact-based/trivia question and you just can't come up with the answer even though you know you know it. And then, to add insult to injury, as soon as they give you the answer - as soon as they start to give you the answer - you're like, "Duh! Of course that's what it is!"

That's the difference between recall and recognition, two powerful ways to access information inside our brains.

Applying this to a work setting, imagine your boss asking for your opinion on what to do about a particularly thorny issue, but in that particular moment, your 'recall' brain freezes up. What to do? You can't just sit there like a deer in the headlights. And you probably don't want to act like you're completely clueless ... even though you very well may be. If this happens to you, try switching the conversation to Recognition Mode.

How? One way is to ask your boss to make it a multiple choice question. "Hmm. Give me some choices to choose from," you could say. The benefits could be threefold:

1. your boss might appreciate the playfulness in your request to do a little brainstorming
2. s/he might come up with some pretty good ideas that you never would have thought of on your own
3. his/her suggestions might be just enough to get your own creative juices flowing again.

And what if the boss doesn't want to play game-show host with you? Chances are good that in the time it takes for him/her to say so you'll be able to jump-start your Recall Brain and come up with a reasonable response. So either way, the process can help.

Go ahead. Try it and see.