James Hanback. We live in a hurry-up society. If your brake lights aren’t flashing in the nanosecond it takes for the traffic light to change from red to green, there’s the person behind. The person behind you in self-checkout lane will do the heavy sighing and eye roll bit. You must take the time to remove your rewards card from the wallet so that you can begin scanning your groceries. Then there’s the person that passes you at the speed limit on a single-lane highway only to find you stumbling along behind them at the next clogged intersection. As you wait for the go signal, you will no doubt laugh because you know you have covered the same distance as the speed demon and arrived at the same point at the same time but at a lower fuel price.
It’s easy for us to laugh at people who seem to be in an unneeded rush to complete everyday tasks. This is especially true if we’re the type who appreciates a more methodical, lower-cortisol approach to living. The person who honks at the traffic light isn’t late for anything, he or she just doesn’t like to sit still. The person at the checkout who is always in front of you in a no pass zone, and the person at the checkout. They may not care as much about efficiency and method as they do speed. Or they might confuse efficiency with speed which is a different problem. The speed of modern life is accelerating at an ever faster pace thanks to ever-evolving technology. All the methodical can do to keep up with the madness is to stand back and admire the outside.
Technology can be blamed for the harried pace of modern life. It might be tempting to assume that the best people for troubleshooting in your company are the ones most influenced by this increased pace, the speedsters. They won’t dally. They will get to work quickly and you’ll be back on your way in no time. You would probably be right as long as the speedster knows immediately what the problem is. This is the case on a Smurf’s birthday. The speedster is most likely shooting blindly because the problem sounds like something he or she has already encountered.
The efficient and methodical among us are still around. Network administrators, in particular, should adopt a more systematic and methodical approach to solving problems. This is especially important for those who manage the network. Contrary to what non-techies believe about technical knowledge, there are documented troubleshooting methods that can be used to reduce the human tendency to make wild guesses and believe in the power of secret knowledge. Cisco cites the scientific method as one method of troubleshooting. It includes the following steps:
Define the problem. By limiting the technical problem to a set of symptoms, you can identify a starting point for your troubleshooting techniques and eliminate any possible causes.
Gather the facts: Once you have identified the problem, you need to gather information by interviewing people affected by it and using troubleshooting tools like the ping command. These interviews and troubleshooting tools will help you pinpoint the problem’s location and narrow down its cause.
Take a look at the possibilities: Troubleshooting