Give a smart question, get a smart answer
25 Jan 2024
If I asked you the question, “does the top bread bun go below the cheese and lettuce?”
Would you take me seriously?
No.
Communication is Key
Asking smart questions is an opportunity. An opportunity to gain specific information and detailed answers to expand your knowledge and make better decisions. If we can make smart goals, we can make smart questions. It is important to analyze the questions we are asking and ensure that it is specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and will it meet long term goals. Putting in effort to what you are trying to convey with research of your own and emphasizing the area of confusion will lead you to a path of effective communication, collaboration, and work. However, asking questions with little to no context, does not lead you anywhere. It is important to try and figure things out yourself, ask a friend who can help you, or utilize your resources. No matter what, when you are just stuck and unsure of what to do, or what x means, form a smart question.
Smart question
In the following example, this person is asking what the difference is between map and object. In this question, the asker provides varying definitions from other sources, but is looking for more clarification. The asker explains their reason to confusion and concludes with the question, “Why is JavaScript gaining a (well-supported) Map object? what does it do?”
I had found this as an example of a SMART question because this person showcases research and provides us with information that they have tried to figure it out themselves. Confusion is highlighted and details about what is unclear is provided. After looking at the responses from other folks and developers, they seemed engaged in the conversation and wanting to provide more for the asker.
Not so smart question
In this example, the asker is wondering how to fix an application.
As you may have analyzed, the asker provides very…very…very vague context of their issue. It is okay though, this person has two responses which hopefully were helpful. I had deemed this question as not so smart because it does not clearly describe the issue and responders seem to provide less information/ less interactive. There are no comments that give us an idea of what the code is doing or knowledge and effort that the asker has done their research on their end. This question is rough.
Save time, energy, and money!
How to ask questions the smart way is definitely an important read, not just for software developers but may pertain to every individual on earth. Good questions are tools and stimulate motivation to learn. Asking smart questions is an advantage to gain another perspective and is essential to the growth process.
Examples were sourced from stackoverflow