Very much in line with the quote by Martin von Hildebrand I posted a couple of days ago:

Too often in most businesses asking questions seems intrusive, as if you are trying to catch someone off guard or perhaps suspect they haven’t done their homework. That’s too bad, because far too many questions go unasked, and because of that far too many assumptions go unchallenged and far too many half-baked ideas are implemented.

via Thinking Faster: Asking the right questions.

Thanks to Martin (aka frogpond) for pointing me to this post.