Ask freely

Thou shall never hesitate to ask a question to a peer if that question could help your work (or theirs’) progress.

Answer freely

Even the most trivial questions can lead to a grand discovery. If asked a question that seems foolish, answer it gently since you cannot know the intent of the question when you first hear it.

If the question is about your work, maybe your peer wants to learn something new – remember, no everyone knows exactly the same things – besides, you never know if when answering the question, you might notice a mistake in your own work.

If the question is about something else and you think the answer is fairly easy, do not assume that the person has not tried to find the answer. The following scenarios exist:

• they researched and could not find the answer
• they believe you know the answer and could share your knowledge (thus avoiding loss of time) **direct knowledge transfer is far more effective than research as such – faster.

Do not let your ego win over you; many a time you will find yourself telling someone to “read a book!” or “figure it out!”, instead of helping them resolve the issue.

Where open communication exists, collaboration is truly possible.