Early in practice, you ask normal questions and get answers that feel like non-answers: “it depends,” or “what do you think?” If you are new, it can feel like people are dodging you, or worse, not helping you.

They usually are helping. Just not in the way school trained you to expect.

In this episode, we name the real shift: school rewards correctness, practice rewards judgment. The clean answer you want often does not exist because the project is not ready for it, or because a senior person is protecting options, managing risk, and trying to understand how you think.

We get specific about what “it depends” really means, why good mentors ask questions back, and how responsibility transfers quietly through small moments. The goal is not to stop asking questions. The goal is to ask better ones, bring a position, and get calibrated instead of rescued.

In the next episode: we talk about mistakes in practice, why some get corrected calmly and others change trust fast, and how fear of being wrong can quietly stall your growth.

It often means the decision is not ready yet because the tradeoffs are still unclear, or the project still needs information.

Senior people are learning your thinking process, not grading your knowledge. Your process determines what they can safely hand you next.

School trains you to produce and be correct. Practice expects you to decide, own consequences, and keep the project alive.

Sending the email, calling the consultant, presenting the slide. Those moments are the office handing you weight. Confidence comes after.

If you only collect answers, you do not build a decision-making muscle. When context changes, you are stuck again.

Bring a recommendation, the reasoning, and the risk you are watching. You want calibration, not rescue.

The uneasy pause and the lack of a clean answer often mean you are in the real apprenticeship stage of practice.

Key Takeaways

1. It depends” is usually risk management, not avoidance.
2. Questions back are mentorship in disguise.
3. Practice is output plus judgment.
4. Responsibility transfers in small, quiet steps.
5. Clear answers can become a crutch.
6. Progress is not fewer questions, it is better questions.
7. Discomfort is not a failure signal.

Next time you need help, do not lead with “Is this right?”
Try: “Here’s what I’m trying to solve. I’m leaning toward X because of Y. The risk I see is Z. Any concerns?”