problem solving

When You Should (or Shouldn’t) Complain at Work

Opinions vary as to whether complaining is a positive or negative thing. On the positive side, complaining can help you crowdsource solutions for your problem. But when done with negative intent, complaining is just annoying and detrimental. Learn how to tell the difference before you grumble.

Naomi Karten's picture
Naomi Karten
Learn to Use Your Creativity for Problem Solving

Creativity, the ability to make new things or think of new ideas, is something we value. Steve Berczuk writes that established best practices, such as patterns, can help us solve many problems efficiently, but breakthroughs arise from creative solutions.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk
How Toilet Paper Problems Affect Software Development

Bonnie Bailey writes on how toilet paper problems, which are problems in which the effort required to resolve them are proportional to their current urgency, affect software development. When dealing with toilet paper problems, you're less likely to prepare for other potential problems.

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Bonnie Bailey
Why Being a Good Problem Solver Means You Really Know Your Problem

Many people on agile teams are good problem solvers. However, we often attempt to solve problems before we are ready. We forget to take a step back to make sure we fully understand the problem, and doing so can lead to less than optimal solutions.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk
How to Solve a Problem That's Not Well Defined

When presented with a problem, professionals are often tempted to propose solutions without validating the problem statement. This can be the right thing to do when the problem is well defined. Unfortunately, outside of academic exercises, such well-defined problems are rare.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk