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I'm Not the Tech Expert You Think I Am (Top 5)

Amongst my family and friends, and I am known as the tech guru. Any time they have any questions, I'm usually the first guy they call. And it's pretty understandable why: 9 times out of 10, I can help solve their problems.

It's kinda weird and doesn't make sense to me. For example, I've been asked numerous times for help with something on Facebook. Um...... I don't have Facebook. (Well, at least, not anymore. I had one from 2008-2011 but haven't had one since.) This isn't to say, however, that I am useless here. In fact, my track record for solving Facebook questions is 100% so far.

So what is it about me? As the title of this posts suggests, I'll be the first to raise my hand and tell you that I am not a tech expert. I have no formal training, no formal IT certifications, and only took one computer programming class in high school. So what I hope you learn from this post is what you can apply to become a "tech expert" yourself.
Before moving forward, I'm going to toss out the bottom line of this whole post here, and frankly, you don't even need to read on: It's not about being a tech expert; it's about developing logic and problem solving skills.

With that, I'm going to give you five tips on troubleshooting technical problems that are going to sound super basic, but I assure you that this is what I do myself on a regular basis.

1. Google it. Yup, sometimes the best answer is the most obvious one. This is easily the number one thing I do. Eight times out of ten, I can very quickly find the answer to any question simply by Googling it. Of course, there are ways to squeeze the best information out of Google. I've discussed this briefly in a former post, and I find that the information behind this link is a good source for best utilizing the Google search engine.

2. Perform your own trend analysis. This is especially important in cases where a feature works sometimes but doesn't work other times. Ask yourself, "What is it about this instance that 'X' behaves this way right now?" For example, on a team I worked on before, we noticed that our teleconferencing software acted funny in that sometimes there would be this horrible echo when anybody talked. I found that there was always one person who didn't hear the echo and quickly realized that that same person not hearing the echo was actually the problem causer. (In that case, it was that their headset and laptop microphones were simultaneously active.) You can use this same mindset to help solve some tech issues this way.

3. Read the manual. Like the first tip, this one might be obvious but is something that just isn't done anymore. Granted, not everything has a manual, but I have found that with stuff like TV, having the manual on hand is pretty nice. Since no two hardware devices are alike, it's pretty difficult Googling stuff about your specific device. Manuals are an easy go-to here, so don't throw them out!

4. Ask yourself "What was going in the mind of the developer when they created this?" You can't forget that a human created the thing you're working with. That said, instead of trying to solve the problem from the perspective of a machine, try looking at it from the perspective of a human. Given that almost all hardware or software was developed by somebody looking to get a paycheck, a developer doesn't get much use out of screwing around with the end user. Sure, they might not be as communicative as they might think they are, but the reality is that almost always, they developed it with you, the end user, in mind.

5. Don't be afraid to get a little "messy". What I mean by this is to not be afraid to toggle certain settings on and off to fix a problem. This concept falls very much in line with the principles of the scientific method. In the scientific method, a person runs a number of experiments with tons of constants and only one variable to see if that variable produces results atypical of the other experiments. This works the same in computer land. So don't be afraid to go in and play around with those settings!

 That's it for this post! I hope you learned something today. Technology really isn't as hard as some people make it out to be. Using these tips, I think you'll find that you'll become the one all your friends and family call whenever they are having technical problems. 😊
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