THINQ's Blog

Fixing IT issues is easy. Knowing where to Tinker is the hard part.

Avoid solving the wrong problems, correctly

There is a great old urban legend about problem solving that involved Henry Ford and Charles Steinmetz. 

Automaker Henry Ford asked electronic genius Charlie Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory. One day the generators ground to a halt, and the repairman couldn't find the problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a few hours and then threw the switch. The generators whirred to life--but Ford got a bill for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the rather tightfisted car maker requested an itemized bill. Steinmetz's itemized bill read: Tinkering with Generators - $10 Knowing where to Tinker - $9,990 (Ford paid the bill)

I’ve been meaning to write about this subject for a while, since we encounter a lot of prospective small businesses who are unhappy with their IT support.  I’m a little worried that IT professionals are losing sight of what’s most important in their profession – solving problems for the client's business!  Far too often, small business owners we meet complain about the same issue from their previous IT partner – “they worked on systems constantly, but never could get it resolved.” 

The problem, in our view, is IT technologists don’t do a good job of working on the right problem.  It is crucial towards a client’s success that IT pro’s attack the right problem correctly and not just fixing the symptom. The most common cause for IT service providers getting fired is not when they address the right problems incorrectly, but when they addressed the wrong problem correctly.  We have seen many of our IT colleague providers “incrementalize” themselves into a corner, working on the wrong problem to no avail.  The result is ugly for everyone:

• First and foremost, the client is DOWN!
• Client is losing revenue 
• Client is frustrated and unhappy
• IT provider is losing money
• Rework and Redo costs explode
• Loss of client confidence and goodwill

Sadly, many IT firms and Managed Services Providers (MSP’s) make the same fatal mistakes at the onset.  Here’s several mistakes we’ve seen.

• Following the Client’s Lead – Wrong. The client is only telling you the symptom, not the crux of the problem.  In some cases this is "terra incognita", you are on the wrong map.

• Become Narrow-Sighted – Another wrong move.  I have seen tech’s keep applying the same changes over and over again, with no new results.   (Apply Einstein’s Theory of Insanity here)  

• Solving for the Symptom – Probably the most common mistake we see in techs.  When you have the flu, you don’t try to cure it with sneezing medicine.  Get to the core and all the symptoms will disappear.

• No Root Cause Analysis (RCA) – Getting the client up and running again is paramount.  Some techs apply a quick-fix and walk away.  Wrong move grasshopper.  Once the client is working again, it is imperative to hunt down and permanently solve the real problem.  (“The Flu”)

• Loss of Time Horizon – Working 5 hours on a $99 scanner does not make sense, especially an economic one.  Always keep track of the financial implications of what you’re working on.  This goes double for the client’s time.

• Don’t leave breadcrumbs – It bewilders me to see techs clicking and clicking to the point of no return.  If they run into trouble while solving a problem, they have no recourse to follow.  I asked one tech how he solved the problem, his reply “I just click on a bunch of buttons and it started working”.  I fainted.  Seriously, keep a mental record of your changes.

• Solve one problem, engineer 3 new ones – this is the by-product of the previous bullet point.  This is insanity IT and the surest way to get fired. 

• No testing by Client – techs will tweak and wrench the problem into a working state and then leave.  Guess what, the client goes back to work only to find the problem still exist.  Always test your resolution with the client.  

• Contra-Thinking – this is big one for us at THINQ.  To be an effective problem solver, you have to think differently.   Prussian mathematician Jacobi pioneered the “Inversion Approach”.  Invert the problem and look at it from various angles and you’ll find the answer easier.

Although these are easy troubleshooting bromides, we are extremely passionate about “Doing It Right” for the client.  The end game is keeping your client's IT engine room and production floors running sound and profitable. Remember, small business entrepreneurs do not rejoice every time they see IT techs in their office. We are not the highlight of their day, nor should we be.  The key to successful IT management and support is to be as invisible, yet present, as possible. 

Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.