I've long shrugged off the shame of asking stupid questions. You see this phenomena throughout school, university (though for God's sake after the lecture, plea

I've long shrugged off the shame of asking stupid questions. You see this phenomena throughout school, university (though for God's sake after the lecture, please) and in the workplace. People are afraid of looking stupid so they sit on their thumbs waiting for things to magically click. This goes a long way when you're talking to clients or partners too. You often need to ask questions that will appear stupid to them, but that you don't know the answer to. They normally take it that you actually care about the job/problem, and often you'll gain some important insight that you otherwise wouldn't know.