I think this is good advice; maybe it could be paraphrased - don't ask to ask (dive in). I think people are often quite hung up on being courteous, and are kee

I think this is good advice; maybe it could be paraphrased - don't ask to ask (dive in). I think people are often quite hung up on being courteous, and are keen to gain permission to have that initial conversation. While I think that's understandable, this is a nice example of why it's useful to a) be persistent, and b) get to the point of the conversation efficiently and effectively.