Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Sometimes—make that almost all the time—the path from the problem to the solution is winding.

“We had a problem; we solved it. Let me describe how we found and implemented the solution.”—a satisfied problem solver.

Ah, nothing more satisfied than a problem solver just after solving a problem. Listen carefully. They will tell you a tale, probably a tall, tall, i.e., not quite true, tale of how they thought a moment and pushed straight through to the solution.

Solutions to problems, i.e., problems whose solution is worthy of a problem solver, rarely come straight. There are fits and starts (what’s a fit?), mistakes, incorrect assumptions, restarts (no re-fits), misdirection, misunderstanding, mis-this-and-that before reaching the solution.

This is normal. Do not panic, do not punish, and do not hold reviews to learn how to make a straight line.

This is why we do agile development. In that, we try to shrink problems to two (four, six, eight, whatever) weeks. The winding is reduced to those time boxes. Hence, the deviation from the mythical straight path is reduced.

Straight paths are for tall tales and myths. Winding paths are for adults in the real world. Choose the path according to your situation.