Regardless of what industry you work in, your role in the organization, or size of the organization, you're eventually going to have to figure something out that you aren't currently privy to. Heck, this can even apply outside of work. It could be trying to figure out the business process of another area in your company to trying to file your taxes without the help of a third party.
1. Find out what other people have done / documented. This one is probably the most obvious and is most relevant to figuring something out that already exists. While this tip would probably be your first resort, I would not let the other tips slip by. Often, you'll find that documentation or people's memory is flaky, so you'll want to utilize the other tips in conjunction with this one when figuring out existing stuff.
This isn't just a "This might happen someday" kind of thing. No, it WILL happen. You're going to have to figure out some ambiguous process or pioneer something that has never been done before. I've found it to be a very valuable skill in my work, so here are five tips to help you figure stuff out.
1. Find out what other people have done / documented. This one is probably the most obvious and is most relevant to figuring something out that already exists. While this tip would probably be your first resort, I would not let the other tips slip by. Often, you'll find that documentation or people's memory is flaky, so you'll want to utilize the other tips in conjunction with this one when figuring out existing stuff.
2. Interview people. Keeping in mind the ever-present reality that there is no way a single person can know absolutely everything, the best course of action is seeking knowledge from the networks surrounding us. This is widely ranging. This could be interviewing a group of prospective consumers to find out what they would like a particular system to do. It also could be uncovering pain points within an existing process. Whatever the case, I don't think you'll ever skirt around not interacting with people, so people skills are important!
3. Hypothesize from the end to the beginning. When I think about trying to figure something out, I find its usually easier to work from the end user / end product than from the beginning. It's kind of obvious why when you think about it: we do know the end; we don't know the beginning. The end is always going to stay the same, but the beginning could be something you hadn't thought about before. To that "end" (I'm punny), work your way backward to the beginning.
4. Diagram your findings. This is the business architect coming out in me! Let's face it: most of us are visual people. It's easier to understand a diagram or picture than a group of words on a page. You don't have to be an artist to diagram something out. It could be as simple as throwing up Post-It notes on a white board and drawing arrows in between them.
5. Just give something a try. While I wouldn't recommend this be your first resort, there are instances where you just have to give something a try because you'll never fully know how something works out until its out in the ether. Did Apple know the iPhone would be a success when they first launched it? They could hypothesize one way or the other, but the only definitive indicator of success was the actual sale of the product. Sometimes, you're just going to have to try and see if something works.
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