3 ms·
This is certainly sometimes true, but when someone is explicitly asking for help, making suggestions that are too "obvious" may come off as condescending or, if
by actionablefiber 4y ago
This is certainly sometimes true, but when someone is explicitly asking for help, making suggestions that are too "obvious" may come off as condescending or, if the other person hadn't tried it, put them on the defensive. For instance you might suggest something like "turn it off and on again" and the other person might say "duh, I already tried that and it didn't work, I wouldn't have come to you otherwise" or worse they might not have tried it but the way you suggest it as a blindingly obvious course of action makes them feel bad for not having tried it.
- corobo 4y agoCan't you ask "What have you tried so far?". I can't imagine that being taken weirdly.
- hnfong 4y agoIn some situations could result in a 30 minute speech though.
- corobo 4y agoThat's unfortunate but if the user has done something that takes 30 minutes to explain it's probably worth listening.
- TaylorAlexander 4y agoThat has got to be a very rare occurrence. Asking first is in my opinion the best advice. If in rare situations the person is giving a long winded or incoherent answer it should be okay to interrupt, but to avoid asking them what they tried on the off chance they are a poor communicator seems to me a bad tactic.