The first thing we have to do is define what the question actually is! Seems obvious, but I meet so many people in the industry who are happily analyzing stuff, but without really knowing what the question is that they are trying to answer.  We really must help peopl to clearly define the questions and the objectives of their studies, before they embark on their analysis.  What is the question?, why do we need to know?, how do we answer the question?

We also have to help people break out of the traditional teaching mindset that so many of us became accustomed to at school, namely trying to second guess what teacher wants us to say!

In the classroom I very often ask a question, work through the reasoning with the trainees, answer the question and make sure the trainees understand how we came to that conclusion.  Then I will ask the same question a few hours later and nobody says anything!  Why not?  Because they know they have already answered this question earlier in the day, therefore if I am asking it again, I must be looking for a different answer!  It is surprisingly difficult to explain to some people that the same question about the same problem will have the same answer. irrespective of when the question is asked!