Parallel to Lincoln's angry letters never sent concept...
With all that I read, hear, and see these days about folks (not excluding yours truly) expressing themselves, I sometimes wonder about President Lincoln's idea of writing but not sending letters. For better or worse, there is certainly a sharp contrast between that and typical use of today's communication.
I was not necessarily thinking of opinions, emotions, and perspectives although I do see the wisdom in the Lincoln's method of dealing with such issues.
My issue, at least this time, was being stuck with a particular problem using a technology which is not part of my regularly used skillset. The technology itself is irrelevant to my point so I won't name it here.
I had struggled with a solution after a bit of reading the documentation, searching for and modifying some similar examples, and experimentation. The time I had put in was actually very little because I was simultaneously working on other parts of the solution. That's another way of saying I was aware of this issue but I had not really given it the attention that it deserved.
I decided I would ask the experts for help. I have enough experience to know that this was a sophisticated enough issue such that any solution was going to require a well written description of what I was trying to achieve.
You have probably already guessed the ending of this one but I am taking the time to write about it because while I do know better I also know that I need to be reminded on occasion, maybe more often than I care to admit.
My solution came to me as I was describing the problem at hand. I was literally typing in the description section of a post-an-issue option in relevant a forum. And that's when the lightbulb came on and I realized that I was describing the solution right there along with the problem.
I had really not thought about the issue enough to find the answer beforehand and asking for help, which we should all do when needed, was, at least in this case, not really asking for help. It would have been asking for others to think for me and solve my problem before ever really attempting that on my own. Ultimately, I would have wasted precious time of others and lost an opportunity for learning.
Happy learning,
Carl
I was not necessarily thinking of opinions, emotions, and perspectives although I do see the wisdom in the Lincoln's method of dealing with such issues.
My issue, at least this time, was being stuck with a particular problem using a technology which is not part of my regularly used skillset. The technology itself is irrelevant to my point so I won't name it here.
I had struggled with a solution after a bit of reading the documentation, searching for and modifying some similar examples, and experimentation. The time I had put in was actually very little because I was simultaneously working on other parts of the solution. That's another way of saying I was aware of this issue but I had not really given it the attention that it deserved.
I decided I would ask the experts for help. I have enough experience to know that this was a sophisticated enough issue such that any solution was going to require a well written description of what I was trying to achieve.
You have probably already guessed the ending of this one but I am taking the time to write about it because while I do know better I also know that I need to be reminded on occasion, maybe more often than I care to admit.
My solution came to me as I was describing the problem at hand. I was literally typing in the description section of a post-an-issue option in relevant a forum. And that's when the lightbulb came on and I realized that I was describing the solution right there along with the problem.
I had really not thought about the issue enough to find the answer beforehand and asking for help, which we should all do when needed, was, at least in this case, not really asking for help. It would have been asking for others to think for me and solve my problem before ever really attempting that on my own. Ultimately, I would have wasted precious time of others and lost an opportunity for learning.
Happy learning,
Carl
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