Problem solving is a pretty essential skill in the modern workplace, especially in the technology area. And I consider myself a decent problem solver. But two recent problem solving errors on my part drive home the notion that sometimes the more you know about a problem the harder it is to solve…
The first example surrounds my struggles with a toilet. I replaced the filler valve mechanism to fix a slow leak through the flapper valve that resulted in the toilet running on and off through the day. And after the fix all the pipes and toilet tank were reconnected with no leaks — and the whole mechanism ran great. The slow leak/constant running problems all solved. But upon return from a long weekend there was a big puddle on the floor — yikes! A quick survey revealed the water tank (on the back of the unit) was overflowing. I readjusted the float to ensure that the water level was set properly. A couple of days later another flood. I readjusted the orientation of the filler valve, thinking the float might be binding up — again another flood the next morning. But the tank never overflowed when I was testing it — then it always performed flawlessly. It only seemed to be when I wasn’t looking that it happened. Finally, after three weeks of intermittent floods and tinkering to figure out why the float valve wasn’t shutting off properly I had a flash of insight. The problem only occurred when nobody was looking, and even more so when nobody was flushing the toilet! The float valve was working, it was just that it wasn’t completely shutting off the water flow. The overflow wasn’t happening at once, it was a very slow leak that took many hours to overflow the tank. Once I discovered that the solution was easy — replace the unit and all is now good.
The other case involves a web application. Our home-grown course evaluation system works almost all of the time and for almost all of the students. But there was always a small percentage who seemed to have consistent problems with their sessions timing out. Even after leaving a form open for 20 minutes I could never replicate the error. And repeated checking through my code and methods didn’t reveal anything. We updated the server software in the Fall, and a short survey run through the system revealed no such errors. So I hoped maybe something had magically gotten fixed. But then again with the end of term evaluations even more such errors cropped up — still a small percentage but unacceptable. The only change from prior years was more of the evaluations were asking for detailed written comments. I was figuring I’d need to re-write the application, and maybe offer some type of ajax auto save mechanism. But that would involve changes to the underlying data structure which enforces an anonymous submission — I just didn’t know what to do. Then it dawned on me — what was the standard time-out for session in PHP? A little work revealed it was 24 minutes — so I just upped it to 45 minutes. Still not a complete solution, but it should be enough to fix the problem. I also added a notice to the forms to indicate the time restriction. Maybe not the most elegant solution, but better than finding the non-existent time to rebuild the entire application.
In both cases I spent a lot of time looking at the wrong thing, and missing a very simple explanation, with resultant easy and quick solution. Lesson — approach every problem with an open mind, and don’t rely on prior knowledge. What you know doesn’t always help, and it can blind you to the real causes of an issue.
The Tao of Pooh | Winnie the Pooh
One of the basic principles of Taoism is P’U, the Uncarved Block. The essence of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed.
Techworld – Corporate IT Can Learn a Lot From Web 2.0 Coders
What’s more, 57 per cent of the respondents said that problem-solving and analytical skills will be key requirements for next-generation developers,
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Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
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