My jaw rarely drops when I happen upon another web professional’s blog. This article entitled “the problem vs the answer” made my jaw drop because it is something I have been ranting about for the past two weeks. I have been stumbling over the explanation; I couldn’t have said it better than Tom Knoll did:
Why is everyone more interested in the answer than the question?
When you have a problem that needs to be solved, you should be more interested in the questions than the answers. Solutions come from good questions, not prepackaged answers. I know you are pressed on every side and feel like you do not have enough time to worry about good questions. But good questions now, will save you exponential time in the future. If you allow many small under-pressure-solutions to stack up, you end up with a building that cannot be repaired, but can only be torn down and rebuilt.
There is a tendency in my field to provide a set number of answers, rather than taking time to consider the questions with people. I look forward to the day when we feel like we have time to ask the best questions and consider the best answers.