There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers
In my industry, we seem overrun by a number of people who don't know how to answer questions. My 6th grade english teacher maintained that there was no such thing as stupid questions, only stupid answers. I am now a firm believe in this.
Let me illustrate:
1) If someone comes up to you, their clothes ablaze, and screams, "Where's a bucket of water?" do you:
- Stare in fascination at how brightly polyester can burn
- Tell them that you think there is a water spigot out behind the barn, and there may be a bucket inside one of the old horse stalls
- Keenly realize this person needs help, instruct them to stop, drop, & roll, while you run and get water & call 911.
1) is fecitious, 2) is technically correct but of no value, and 3) is a good answer. But #3 isn't an answer really, is it? In actuality, it is a far better response than the first two. Its all about context and knowing what the person is really asking. You recognize that the person is in serious need of help, which is why they asked you the question. You think for yourself and determine how to help them. (By the way, #2 is a stupid answer)
2) If user of your software comes to you, and says, "I get this really big greek error message when I click this button. Pleae help me", do you:- Tell them it means another process has the named mutex
- Tell them how to work around it and file a bug report so that it gets fixed.
- What is the outcome of this interaction that would be of value to the asker? (Or rather, what do they really want?)
- What information does this person really care about? Strive to answer the question effectively but also with brevity.