This is a very useful tip— I learned it early on in my experience doing IT troubleshooting. Simply thinking through your problem as though you were going to ask one of your co-workers what they thought the problem could be is often enough to hit on the solution without actually interrupting anyone. Whether you’re just thinking it out or writing it down, you’re forcing yourself to look at the situation from someone else’s perspective, and you’re dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s. If you’re writing it down, you now have a work log of what you have tried (and possibly in what order). All of this makes for a good CYA even if you still need to go ask someone with more experience for ideas.