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Comment #1 posted on 2018-07-25 12:22:55 by Hipstre

Nick Burns

Enjoyed the podcast.

I find it to be very frustrating asking technical questions because a lot of guys want to humiliate people who ask them questions. Like Nick Burns. And I find that these guys often don't actually answer the question, because they aren't listening. They just listen until they hear a keyword, and then go into a rant.

Comment #2 posted on 2018-07-25 22:33:04 by dodddummy

Related to humilation

There are lots of issues with how we ask and answer questions but related to humiliation specifically, what makes me really sad is when someone tells me they don't want to ask a question because the person or people they'll be asking humiliate them.

One of the reasons I will not publish the asker's name if they don't me want to.

I first this seems like a weak person, but I've had managers tell me the look down on people who don't know things. So I understand the hesitation to ask questions in an unfriendly environment.

There's a lot to learn and we might all be better off if we realize the person has skills, just maybe not in the same area you do.

Comment #3 posted on 2018-07-27 02:19:51 by Brenda J. Butler

People who waste my time by trying to find the answer for me.

I totally agree.

And another thing that is annoying is when you ask a question and the person doesn't know the answer but either tells you a bunch of generalities that anyone would know, and/or tries to find the answer while you stand there, when you could go back to your desk and look for yourself. What I would like is a quick answer, even if it is "I don't know" or even "I don't know off the top of my head". They could throw in some keywords to search for, if they think it might help.

Comment #4 posted on 2018-07-27 11:42:52 by Quick Answers

I failed to do this and I'm sorry.

Brenda,
That is annoying! What I try to remember to do is to ask in the format of "Don't spend time on this but do you know off the top of your head?"

But recently, I asked someone a question I'd already spent a lot of time researching and it appears that I couldn't do what I wanted to do.

But, as I said, if I think something should be possible, I won't let a 'No' remain so and will ask again every few months. Even if it's a 'No' now, things change quickly.

Anyway, I forgot to add 'off the top of your head' and I'm afraid 1-2 hours might have been spent searching for me to return the first bit of text my researching revealed.

I feel so bad about that slip of the tongue.

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