Short but meaningful

The question you didn't ask

I used to be that person in a meeting who had a question but didn't ask it. Why? Because I thought it was too basic, too obvious, or that everyone else already knew the answer. I didn't want to be that guy. So I stayed quiet, nodded, and then spent the next hour trying to figure it out on my own (or worse, making assumptions that later turned out to be wrong).

Here's the thing: that question I was holding back? Someone else in the room probably had the same one. And the few times I finally gathered the courage to ask, the response was almost always "Oh, great question!" or "Actually, I was wondering the same thing." Not once did someone say "Wow, how do you not know that?". Not once.

I've seen this pattern repeat itself everywhere: in onboarding sessions, in code reviews, in one-on-ones. People stay silent because they're afraid of looking incompetent. But staying silent is the incompetent move. You're choosing to remain confused, and possibly dragging others along with you, just to protect your ego or to not be seen as vulnerable.

There are no stupid questions, only the ones you never asked. The cost of asking is a few seconds of vulnerability. The cost of not asking can be hours of confusion, wrong decisions, or missed opportunities to learn something that changes the way you work.

I've found myself surrounded by very talented people who are not afraid of sharing their knowledge. Remember that we were all in the same spot at some point in our careers, do not hesitate to grow!

Switching AI tools

I've been a ChatGPT user for a while now. It became part of my daily workflow, from drafting ideas to debugging code to even rubber-ducking problems when no one else was around. It worked well enough, and I got comfortable with it.

But comfort can be a trap (this brings me back to the first learning from January, I keep learning this lesson). So I decided to try Claude. I wanted to see what else was out there. I've been testing it for some time now, mostly for writing and coding tasks, and so far the experience has been really great and surprisingly fulfilling.

I don't have a strong conclusion yet, and I don't want to force one. I'll keep experimenting and share more once I have a clearer picture. What I can say is that the simple act of switching tools forced me to rethink some habits I didn't even know I had.

Trying a different tool isn't just about finding something "better." It's about challenging your defaults. You don't know what you're missing until you step outside what's familiar, even if you end up going back.