By Lynda Kiejko, P.Eng, CIB, OLY
I wish I’d known that asking questions is not a sign of inexperience. Instead, it’s a great way to gain insight and understanding.
When someone in our workplace asks us a technical question, we might assume they will provide the information required to make a viable assessment.
However, that is often not the case. At times the person asking the question simply doesn’t know what other information is required to give the best answer. So, it is up to us to ask more questions to ensure we have all the information we need.
There have been times I’ve been asked to evaluate a portion of a design — a request that, at first glance, seemed straightforward. But I’ve learned to ask questions so that I can better understand the scenario, which often turns out to be more convoluted and complex.
Without taking the time to understand the current situation in its entirety, as well as any previous aspects that are now irreversible, the advice I’d offer would not be accurate.
Early in my career, for instance, I reviewed the foundation drawings for a transmission pole just outside a substation. I found no technical errors with the foundation.
Unfortunately, I didn’t ask for the structural drawings that indicated what would be mounted on the foundation because that part of the design was being reviewed by someone else. As construction started, questions arose because the transmission pole, pile cap, and associated piles had all been designed by different companies.
Ultimately, the connections between these various elements generated some concerns. But because I had only reviewed the pile cap and the piles, I was not aware of the intent of the pile cap, the structural loading, and the fact that multiple companies were involved in the design. Thus, issues that could have been resolved earlier were not discovered until later.
Making a quick assessment without knowing the larger picture can mean making the wrong recommendation. So taking the time to evaluate and really understand the whole scenario is key. We might not get all the information right away.
People might not grasp the importance of certain details, or the information might be dispersed among different sources. But it’s our job to ensure that all the pieces are present before we try to put the puzzle together.
That’s why asking questions doesn’t indicate inexperience — it’s the way we demonstrate our experience.
Lynda Kiejko, P.Eng, CIB, OLY, is a senior civil engineer technical lead at AltaLink.
This article first appeared in the July/August 2026 issue of Civil Engineering as “Wish I’d Known.”
