In the coding world, this is called rubber duck debugging.
Because coders are weirdos, they have a tradition of asking a rubber duck.
One version of the rubber duck story has a boss whodirects his employees to talk to a taxidermied duck.
He makes them ask the duck their questions, questions he is sick of answering.
And one engineer discovers that just by explaining their question to the duck, they discover the answer.
All they had to do was put their problem into words.
Youll get better at solving your own problems if you getbetter at asking questions.
Coder Jeff Atwood built this concept into his sitesStack OverflowandStack Exchange.
So hewrote some requirements for a good question.
Heres an adapted version to help you solve your own problem.
Each step might be the last.
But if youre still stuck, move onto the next.
You do this by putting your problem into words: saying it out loud, or writing it down.
Add detail
Back up.
What were you doing before your problem started?
Whats the first step youd take if your problem cant be solved?
Look at each word of your question and see if you could define it for a non-expert.
(Imagine youre explaining the problem to your parents, or to your kids.)
Extend that to any kind of question.
If you have a time management problem, list all your time commitments.
Write all these answers down with your original question.
Sort them into some coherent order.
State your goal
Sometimes youve explained whats wrong, but not what would be right.
Explain what you hoped would happen that hasnt happenedand why the current situation isnt desirable.
Explain which solutions dont work for you.
(Tech help forums are littered with unacceptable solutions rejected by the asker.)
Share your research
You need, of course, to do your research.
You arent one of those cretins who tweets a question instead of googling.
List the places you searched, the resources you consulted, the info they had and didnt have.
And if you solved the problem?
Let all bow to your wisdom.
You are athought leader.
