You can’t hear advice when you’re only listening for permission.

There is a difference between asking and auditioning answers. If you have already decided, what you are after is somebody to approve it, so every response gets sorted into yes or wrong, and the actual content never reaches you. People can tell, which is why they stop giving you anything real. You end up with a circle that agrees and a decision nobody checked.

Before you ask someone what they think, say out loud what you are hoping they will say. That one sentence makes the difference obvious. Then, if you still want advice, ask the question in a way that does not tell them which answer you want.