I used to think that all the "geniuses" didn't ask anyone on how to do things at all, and just go for it. Turned out that they do, and luckily for us, in the internet age we have history.
I like how your interpretation of 'do things' is 'set UA string in java spiders'. Einstein visited bohr to rap about the speed of light and larry page asked a mailing list how to use java libraries.
Steve jobs asked a lot of people like Intel CEO, HP CEO etc. He made all these successful people his mentor. And, it is well documented in his biography as well in 'Becoming Steve Jobs' book. This is how he became so good in his craft.