Einstein is quoted as saying, “If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”
According to Vishal Kataria (www.aryatra.com), problem solving has a synonym in the corporate world…firefighting. The issue here is that staff time at our customers is usually fairly tight. They don’t have time or resources to address small things – small things that often turn out bad and cause the fire alarm. Somebody did something not quite “right” – but it did not cause any problems then…what about now?
The concept of problem solving in most companies today is flawed. “If it isn't urgent, worry about it later,” is the mantra. Eventually, the ignored problem becomes so massive that it calls for – you guessed it – firefighting. This behavior is so deeply entrenched in most organizations that it has become a culture.
There you are on site and a fire breaks out. You might even be involved in it because your project caused it. Typically, in the MS UC world, something that was not an issue before becomes an issue when the project needs to start leveraging the network, load balancers, firewalls, security, remote site, VPN, you name it. When this occurs, what do you do about it? Hopefully, the answer is not “run in circles, scream and shout.”
You need to have a few tools in your head ready to trot out and apply to the situation. The first tool is to start asking WHY. The Six Sigma guidance is to ask WHY five times. Sometimes the root cause will show up before that, sometimes it might take more; but five WHY questions is a good rule.
The second tool is a troubleshooting process. Basically, there are three methods: Start to finish, finish to start, or pick a spot in the middle and work one way or the other. Method #3 is also two subsets – middle to end, and middle to start. Your job, of course, is to figure out which of the actions to take. Deciding which method to use brings up another Einstein paraphrase: “The problem is figuring out what the problem is.” The point is, have those tools. If you don’t like mine, find or develop your own.
Sit and think on that. Use your product and network knowledge. What is broken and where? WHY? What can you do figure out where or what is borked? Break out a fishbone. Break out a decision-making matrix. But resist the urge to take immediate actions without understanding the problem and root cause. Sometimes you can go right to the real issue because you have seen it before. Most times, in the end, you are looking at a new sales opportunity. Are you prepared for that?
Your last tool is to realize that you are supposed to be the adult in the room. Patience and understanding go a long way in our world. Have you kept your axe sharp? A tree is in front of you at this moment. Seneca the Younger (Roman – read up!) is paraphrased “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Your opportunity is right in front of you when the fire bell starts ringing.
Make sure your brain is prepared, your tools are ready, and that you are wearing your adult clothes.
YMMV
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