Most first time managers react to a mistake with a conclusion already formed. Ted's line flips the order: ask before you assume.

When someone on your team misses a deadline, ships something wrong, or drops the ball in a meeting, the instinct is to explain what happened before you've actually found out. That instinct is usually about you, not them. It resolves your discomfort faster than it helps the situation.

Curiosity is slower on purpose. It assumes there's information you don't have yet, and it treats finding that information as more urgent than being right.