Once I got over the embarrassment hurdle of asking “dumb” questions, I grew a lot in my early career. Then people saw me as highly engaged, and my questions and understanding got better over time.
In particular, I encourage all the new joiners on my team to play the “newbie” card to allow them to ask as many questions as they want.
“Hey, new guy here… what is X?”
I even tell them to set a goal of one question per day if it helps.
I think it’s so important not to be passive because you absorb / understand less that way.
Once I got over the embarrassment hurdle of asking “dumb” questions, I grew a lot in my early career. Then people saw me as highly engaged, and my questions and understanding got better over time.
In particular, I encourage all the new joiners on my team to play the “newbie” card to allow them to ask as many questions as they want.
“Hey, new guy here… what is X?”
I even tell them to set a goal of one question per day if it helps.
I think it’s so important not to be passive because you absorb / understand less that way.