21–30 of 97 posts
My analysis professor used to say, if you state that some part of the proof is trivial then it should be easy to just write it out. And when you have a hard time writing it out or it takes too long, perhaps it's not trivial after all.
One expression of this that I hear from newer devs (and clients) sometimes is "Can't we just...?" and what it really means is "I don't understand", but in a more socially safe way. If I address the question as if it were "what am I missing that makes this seemingly simple solution not viable?" it usually addresses the question and spreads better understanding. I also find that if someone is having trouble understandi…
Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher from 2,500 years aging said this. "Wisest is he who knows he does not know". And er, Donald Rumsfeld, when talking about unknown unknowns.
One thing that irks me is when you're given some sort of spec document and just told by someone senior the equivalent to RTFM; no questions tolerated ... you have to read and understand the document by yourself, and that's it. That's happened a couple of times to me... and its totally unproductive.
I don't disagree with you but there's a fine limit between asking questions and asking to be hand held. And it also works the other way around: I cannot stand when a member of the team is too afraid/shy/... to say "I don't understand". (I'm not blaming the team mate as much as the work environment. Nevertheless it's still a very real problem). When I get out of a meeting with coworkers and they said they understood (…
The office is not the place for chest thumping dominance displays and contests of will.
I first noticed this effect in college, when the prof would be talking about something that didn't make sense to me. If I remained silent, he'd never explain (of course) and I'd remain ignorant. However, whenever I asked him, everyone would start furiously writing down his explanation in their notes. So I got into the habit of saying "I don't understand". Inevitably, there would be quite a number of other people who…
I think that it is the explainer's responsibility to explain it in a way that will be 1) understood by others 2) not intimidating, so if it's not understood, people will still feel they can ask.
Crafting an explanation in a way that others can follow is one of the most powerful and useful skills a developer or manager can strive to achieve, not just the ability to understand others who don't have this skill.
E.g. if I hear "I don't understand" I don't think "ok, this person is not getting it", but rather "my explanation should be better"
Almost every environment I've been in - whether it be high-school or grad-school, a corporate setup, a startup,; I've found that "I don't know"/"I didn't get you" goes a long way. The other person in the picture usually goes out of their way to make me understand what I'm missing.
I first noticed this effect in college, when the prof would be talking about something that didn't make sense to me. If I remained silent, he'd never explain (of course) and I'd remain ignorant. However, whenever I asked him, everyone would start furiously writing down his explanation in their notes. So I got into the habit of saying "I don't understand". Inevitably, there would be quite a number of other people who…
I saw that as well. One student asked what seemed like silly questions, but later he got invited to apply for PhD and I did not. On the other side of the equation, I had one amazing EE professor who would write something on the board, and before he turned around would say to the class "You don't understand this", erase it, and take a better approach. He was able to tell when the class didn't get his explanation and w…
I've always used the words "I don't know". My mother kept telling me she hated hearing those words. I can imagine that she was pissed that I didn't take a guess, but guess what? I hate guessing! I hate making decisions and jumping to conclusions based on partial knowledge. Almost every environment I've been in - whether it be high-school or grad-school, a corporate setup, a startup,; I've found that "I don't know"/"I…