As a curious counterpoint, try taking the opposite approach for a bit and only get involved when it is absolutely apparent that no one else can do the job/guide people through decisions. Have junior folks write down what they are about to do in a design, or what they've tried before to help build documentation, design, and debug muscle. You may find that people are more able to run the show than you give them credit for.
98% of the questions I get are not about the basics, they are very high-level problem solving questions coming from people that just need clarification or 2nd pair of eyes on something. I mean even I need that quite often and I am very grateful for the help.
> 98% of the questions I get are not about the basic
How do you know your advice is being followed/ is valuable? I don't think that statistic is relevant. I don't think people are misinterpreting what you said. Its either 1. a tautology: because when they need help, they'll ask. 2. It can be misinterpreted: Ask for help whenever something challenging happens.
That's not at all standard, at least not if you're talking about documentation that's actually available in a useful fashion.
I've definitely seen junior devs get used to hand holding from senior devs, and learn nothing
The end result is I had learned how to solve it on my own and a senior dev had checked it to make sure it was the right path.
Some people seeing this advice may be worried about people coming to them with too simple problems or without trying to work it out themselves first, or other similar issues. That happens, but not that much, from my experience. And when it does, it’s usually with new people. In such cases you will want to explain to them what they could be doing better with this process, and avoid discouraging them from seeking help altogether.