This is an astonishingly effective technique. I feel a bit of an ass talking to a duck (in my case, a stress ball with a smiley face on it) but much less of an

This is an astonishingly effective technique. I feel a bit of an ass talking to a duck (in my case, a stress ball with a smiley face on it) but much less of an ass than coming to a co-worker with a stupid problem. NB: silently looking over the code is not the same. Something about having to explain it to a third party makes you question your assumptions in a way that is helpful.