https://blog.abhi.se/dont-rush-to-solutions

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Don't rush to solutions

October 29, 2021

Recently, someone asked me to help them design a workflow. Now I've
been doing this a while - and I had, not long before this
conversation, designed a similar process elsewhere. So I whipped out
the tool I'd been using and started walking them through how they'd
have to think about actors, states, and flows. About halfway into my
walkthrough, they asked me if I could help them figure out who was
responsible for a decision.

A few minutes later, we uncovered the real problem: what this person
was trying to do was to find who the stakeholders for the workflow
were, and to define a communication plan for them. What they needed
was help with setting up the communication plan - not defining a
workflow. In my hurry to solve a problem, I'd completely overlooked
the fact that I wasn't even solving the right problem.

Lesson learned: every time you find yourself trying to run towards a
solution, try to resist the temptation to work on it until you're
sure you've understood the problem you're trying to solve. Don't
always just do it.

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