Duty to Ask: Ask. Listen, Evaluate. Talk to people at various levels. Ask for clarification and/or examples. Watch for convoluted explanations, vague estimates, parsing, and weasel words. Have them walk you through a process. Play Lt. Columbo and ask dumb questions. Check out your assumptions as well as theirs. Avoid arguments. Soak in the information and keep the channels open for more.
Duty to Disclose: Don't assume that the information you have is common knowledge. Consider the level of its importance; the more important, the more quickly the situation should be reported. Be courteous and avoid overstatements. Stick to the facts. Respect the chain of command but recognize that you may have to jump it in some cases. Don't speculate or ascribe motives but note any areas of concern and be prepared to describe why they are of concern. If you are in a position of authority: Be able to back up generalizations with examples. Be as objective as possible in your report. Deal in issues and possible solutions, not personalities. Have more than one solution and, if possible, more than three. Know their pros and cons. Be ready to recommend a specific course of action.
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