3 ms·

Ask "dumb" questions. The best lesson I have learnt working in product development (both software and physical) is to ask "dumb" questions. The vast majority o

Ask "dumb" questions. The best lesson I have learnt working in product development (both software and physical) is to ask "dumb" questions. The vast majority of the time they aren't dumb. What seems to you, on fist pass, to be a dumb question is almost certainly an insightful one. The person, your customer/client, will be pleased to hear you asking it. Every answer to a question is a jigsaw piece, ask a question that fills in the next gap until you have the full picture. Each answer gives you a new edge in the picture to ask a question about. Sometimes the "expert", your customer, who you are asking won't know, and that's just as valuable as it gives you insight into them and the new field you are working in. Don't stop asking questions, start with them, then Google and read anything and everything you can. An enormous part of new product development is learning about the field, then applying your learnt knowledge from elsewhere to it.

itsmemattchung 3y ago
I can still hear the words of my first IT manager from 15 years ago, in his French Israeli accent: "I can tell how smart someone is by the questions they ask." Wasn't quite sold on his assertion back then. Now, I cannot agree more. Doesn't apply to just tech, but all facets of life.
- nottorp 3y ago
  Thats how I hire :) I tell them what we do and listen to questions. If there are any ofc.
opportune 3y ago
I think this needs to be caveated. There are "dumb" questions and then there are actually dumb questions. A "dumb" question that challenges some implicit assumption that nobody actually has addressed but maybe some people were also wondering is good. Telling people to ask "dumb" questions IME empowers people who can't differentiate between that and something easily googleable or that belies a fundamental lack of knowledge to ask time-wasting actually-dumb questions. You don't want that.

itsmemattchung 3y ago

I can still hear the words of my first IT manager from 15 years ago, in his French Israeli accent: "I can tell how smart someone is by the questions they ask." Wasn't quite sold on his assertion back then. Now, I cannot agree more. Doesn't apply to just tech, but all facets of life.

nottorp 3y ago
Thats how I hire :) I tell them what we do and listen to questions. If there are any ofc.

opportune 3y ago

I think this needs to be caveated. There are "dumb" questions and then there are actually dumb questions. A "dumb" question that challenges some implicit assumption that nobody actually has addressed but maybe some people were also wondering is good. Telling people to ask "dumb" questions IME empowers people who can't differentiate between that and something easily googleable or that belies a fundamental lack of knowledge to ask time-wasting actually-dumb questions. You don't want that.