Why Am I Doing the Thinking for You?

"What's this message is actually saying is: "I haven't figured this out yet and I'd like you to do the thinking for me." That sounds harsh, but it's true. When you ask someone "what do you think?" without sharing what you think, you're not collaborating, but more like outsourcing? You're taking all the work you should have done (reading and understanding the doc, weighing the trade-offs, forming an opinion) and dumping it on someone else's lap."

"Both are problematic in the same way, because you're literally creating work for someone else. Now they have to: understand the context, think through the options, make a judgment call, and put their name on it. That's a lot of cognitive work to offload onto someone because you didn't want to stake a position. And it slows everything down. How many threads are open right now at your company's Slack because of this? Everyone asking questions, everyone waiting."

Sending a bare "What do you think?" with only a link forces the recipient to do all necessary reading, understanding, and judgment. That phrasing often indicates unreadiness or unwillingness to commit a view, effectively outsourcing cognitive work. Recipients must grasp context, weigh trade-offs, form an opinion, and assume responsibility. This slows processes and creates many Slack threads with more confusion. Two common causes are not reading the material or fearing being wrong or contradicted by seniors. A better approach is to present one's own view and ask specific questions to invite constructive, efficient feedback.

Read at Terrible Software