I had a student take me up on my offer to talk through her final project if she got stuck. She called and I asked her a few questions — and even though we were on the phone, I could see the light bulb go off over her head. I gave no solutions or even suggestions, but my questions helped her see that she already had the answers, they just weren’t framed that way.
I tried to model this same behavior as a supervisor — providing more questions than answers and helping others see that, in more cases than not, the information that was eluding them was there all along. It’s also why the strategy of asking yourself what advice you would give your friend in your situation often resolves the issue — you know what to do, but you just can’t see it from your current perspective.
If you find yourself at an impasse, don’t go round and round on your own. Seek out someone else — literally or metaphorically — to provide the questions that will uncover your hidden answers.
