INVESTOR extraordinaire Warren Buffett knows the importance of asking the right question. Speaking off the cuff to a group of managers in the US, Buffet was asked what techniques he would recommend to managers.

He told them a tale: A stranger arrived in a small town and he wanted to get to know the locals. So he went over to the village square where an old-timer was standing with "a kind of mean-looking German shepherd".

Looking at the dog fairly tentatively, the stranger asked "Does your dog bite?". The old-timer replied "Nope". So the stranger reached down to pet the dog. The dog lunged at him, nearly taking his arm off. The shocked stranger turned to the old-timer and said: "I thought you said your dog doesn't bite." He replied: "Ain't my dog."

The moral for managers: it's important to ask the right question.

(From Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein.)