The Documentation Paradox

The mythical "just read the documentation" advice strikes again! Sure, because all documentation is as clear as these LEGO instructions showing you exactly where to connect pieces with big red arrows. Meanwhile, the actual docs we deal with are more like "The function does what it does. See function." Eight years as a tech lead and I've yet to encounter documentation that doesn't require three Stack Overflow tabs and a direct message to the one dev who wrote it (who conveniently left the company three years ago). The real senior dev move? Skimming the docs, then reverse-engineering how it actually works.