Knowing an answer and helping someone learn are not the same skill.
Mac Lake writes about curiosity as a prerequisite for learning: good questions can prepare the mind for discovery in ways that simply delivering answers cannot. Coaching literature makes a similar move. Questions invite reflection, ownership, and forward action instead of making the other person dependent on the person with the answer.
I find this uncomfortable because answers are efficient. They also make me feel useful.
If someone brings a problem I have seen before, I can solve it quickly. But if the real goal is development, the fastest answer may produce the slowest growth. The person leaves with my solution rather than a strengthened ability to think, discern, or decide.
This does not mean withholding information people genuinely need. It means becoming more deliberate about the purpose of the conversation.
Am I trying to fix the immediate issue?
Am I trying to help someone grow?
Do they need information, perspective, permission, challenge, or simply enough space to think?
A surprisingly useful practice is simple: ask one more honest question before giving the answer.
Sometimes nothing magical happens. Sometimes the question reveals that I was solving the wrong problem. And occasionally the person reaches a better conclusion than the one I was preparing to give them.
Source trail: Mac Lake, Leading Others; J.R. Briggs, The Art of Asking Better Questions; Keith Webb, coaching material in the Readwise library.