The Lie of the “Quick Question”
It actually takes three or four seconds to ask, “Do you have one second for a quick question?” That should be your first clue.
The truly “quick question” needs no wind-up– you just pop it: “Got change for a twenty?” “Going to the game tonight?”. Those are fair quick questions, and they have quick answers.
But when the questioner needs to soften you up with a preface, there’s a catch– he knows that even if the question may be quick, the answer won’t be. That’s bad enough. Worse, the questioner will take a positive answer as license to unfurl a conundrum worthy of the Senate. Your time is about to get robbed, and you know it.
For a professional, though, there is a far more sinister threat. More often than not you are being approached with the “quick question” because of your training and experience. Implicit in the “quick question” is that you will deliver an accurate professional opinion in an informal setting at no charge, but one upon which the questioner will rely to make some important decision.