Critical Thinking in 5

Over the years of training and assisting various technicians, I've formed a set of guidelines that I've been known to drill constantly. The other day while talking to a newer technician and working with them I realized that I now have the time I didn't have before to actually write down what I've been ranting about for 14 years. I've dubbed them as the Laws for the Practical Technician.

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1. Keep an open mind when approaching the problem and avoid falling back into the "End User" mindset
2. Read and explore everything on the screen! Pay attention to what's being done and what its telling you
3. Understand the problem at least as well as the person asking you for help
4. Be intentional in your troubleshooting, closing your eyes and throwing darts at the wall is not helpful
5. Question everything you think you know and are being told
6. Always have a way out, make sure you can undo anything you do

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There's a lot of nuance in each "law" so now that we got the TLDR version out of the way let's dive into the specifics. Note for the purposes of this post, each law has been given a title.

1. The "Technician" Mindset

Keep an open mind when approaching the problem and avoid falling back into the "End User" mindset

If you run around with your eyes closed expecting nothing to get in your way, you're bound to smack into a wall (or something) and fall down.  If you keep your eyes open and aware of your surroundings you can navigate the obstacles and overcome them.

End users typically expect systems to work seamlessly and view issues as problems needing external help. Technicians, on the other hand, approach systems with the expectation that things might not work and are prepared to "figure it out" each time.

Key Points:

• ‍Expect Issues: Approach every situation with the mindset that things might not work as expected. This keeps it fresh in your mind and allows you to figure out what should or should not be happening each time, and usually during that process you'll identify the disconnect that's causing the issue.
• Problem-Solving Approach: View issues as challenges to be solved rather than insurmountable problems. This proactive mindset helps in finding creative solutions.
• Context Matters: The difference in mindset is less about the person and more about the context! Everyone (for the most part) handles their own problems for their personal lives daily. The moment it becomes a work or tech issue suddenly its hands-off. Be aware of the context you're in, this affects Clients escalating to IT and IT escalating to a higher tier! Don't fall into the trap.

Example: When dealing with a software bug, an end user might see it as "broken" and wait for a fix. A technician, however, will explore various angles—checking logs, considering recent changes, and testing different scenarios to identify the root cause, or find a viable workaround

2. Read the Entire Screen

Read and explore everything on the screen! Pay attention to what's being done and what its telling you

Computers and software are designed to be used, (it's actually the only way they make money!). Therefore, the information needed to operate or troubleshoot them is generally available on the screen or in logs, (although the language can be context-specific for the industry). To effectively identify and solve issues, it's crucial to explore the interface and ask questions. Thoroughly reading on-screen messages and prompts can provide insights into what might be wrong and how to address it.

When encountering an error message or unexpected behavior, don’t rush to conclusions, AND DO NOT SKIP IT! 

Instead, read all the details provided. Error codes, system messages, and even seemingly minor details can offer significant clues. For instance, a message that seems obscure at first glance might make sense when considered within the context of the application or system you're working on. Even comparing against a computer that is working, looking for differences in behavior, or order of operations, screen activity, and so on, can provide clues (for example an error that takes a while to appear is likely caused by a timeout, vs an error that appears immediately is likely caused by an immediate rejection).

Example: If a user reports an issue with a software application crashing, instead of just noting "application crashes," you should read any error messages, logs, or system prompts that appear when the crash occurs. These details can guide you towards understanding the root cause and potential fixes.

3. Understand the Problem

Understand the problem at least as well as the person asking you for help

To effectively troubleshoot, ensure you can recreate the problem and understand its significance. Start by asking the person reporting the issue why it's a problem and why it's important to solve it. Gather as much information as possible to understand all sides of the issue. You should be able to understand the problem at least as well as the person reporting it to you, otherwise how do you expect to fix it? Or even explain it to the next escalation point if you have to reach out for help?

Here are some ways you can work to understand the problem.

• ‍Recreate the Problem: Attempt to replicate the issue in your environment. This step is the best option because it allows you to see the problem firsthand and understand its nuances, at the same time as testing to see if its a problem with their computer only or a wider issue. You can also choose to recreate the problem on a different system, if it requires specific applications or files you don't have on your computer directly.
• ‍Understand the Impact: Determine why the issue is significant. Is it causing data loss, preventing critical operations, or just a minor inconvenience? Understanding the impact helps prioritize the issue and communicate its importance to others.
• Gather Detailed Information: Ask the user detailed questions about the problem. When did it start? What were they doing when it occurred? Has anything changed recently (e.g., new software, updates, hardware changes)? What's normally supposed to happen?
• Prepare for Escalation: If you cannot resolve the issue, you might need to escalate it to a vendor or higher-level support. Having detailed information and a clear understanding of the problem will make this process smoother and more effective.

Example: If a user cannot access a shared network drive, ask them about any recent changes to their system, any specific error messages they receive, and how critical this access is to their work. Look at what the shared drive is mapped to, and if other people have access to it that are working. Identify the network the user who is complaining about is on and if it has connectivity to the shared drive host. This comprehensive understanding allows you to troubleshoot more effectively and escalate if needed.

4. Be Intentional

Be intentional in your troubleshooting, closing your eyes and throwing darts at the wall is not helpful

Being intentional in your actions means making deliberate, thoughtful decisions rather than taking random stabs at fixing an issue. This approach prevents exacerbating the problem and leads to more efficient troubleshooting. Most technicians below Tier 3 will perform troubleshooting by way of "trying different thing to see what works", this is essentially closing your eyes and trying to pin the tail on the donkey, make sure you understand what is going on, and the logical reason why what you're attempting will affect (either negatively or positively) the current outcome so that you can make progress with every step.

Expand on This:

• Map out the "Attack" Chain: Before diving into fixing an issue, outline the Chain that exists to allow the system you're troubleshooting to work during normal behavior. What are the potential areas for disconnect? What steps will you take to test that the chain is working throughout?
• Progress is Progress (both good and bad): Any change in outcome is desired, as it'll help provide information about the underlying behavior that we don't have visibility into. Look for error messages, success messages, timers, lags and so on. No detail is too small.
• Evaluate and Adjust: After each step, evaluate whether it has brought you closer to resolving the issue. Adjust your approach based on these evaluations.

Example: If a printer isn’t working, don’t randomly try different fixes like restarting the printer, reinstalling drivers, or changing settings. Instead, follow a logical sequence—check for error messages to help point you towards a connection issue or a driver issue.

5. Question Assumptions

Question everything you think you know and are being told.

Always be prepared to reassess what you know. Technology and systems evolve, and what was true yesterday might not hold today. Keeping an open mind and questioning assumptions can lead to discovering the true cause of an issue.

Expand on This:

• Expect to be wrong all the time: When you're right about something there's no reason to go back and check because you know you're right. If you're wrong about something then you'll be looking to validate that you are wrong, or what the right answer is. This mindset helps keep your knowledge fresh and reminds you to double check everything you think you know or are being told.
• ‍Seek Out Information: Be proactive in seeking out new information and learning from others. Forums, user groups, and official documentation can offer insights you might not have considered. Often times all it takes to help find the answer is asking the question, not to the person next to you, but even to yourself! Use the Rubber Duck method if you need to.

Example: If a network issue arises, don’t assume it’s due to the same cause as last time. Reevaluate the situation - start the troubleshooting process from scratch everytime until you've identified the root cause to the be the same as last time.

6. Never Do Something You Can't Undo

Always have a way out, make sure you can undo anything you do

Always have a contingency plan before making changes. Ensure that any action you take can be reversed if it doesn’t resolve the issue or causes new problems.

Expand on This:

• Backup First: Before making destructive changes, find a way to keep a good copy of what you're changing. This ensures that you can revert back if needed.
• Test Changes: Where possible, test changes in a controlled environment before applying them to the live system.
• Document Reversible Steps: Ensure that every action you take can be undone. Document the steps if necessary so you can revert configurations and settings.

Example: Before modifying a system registry, backup the registry or export the key in question. Rename something instead of deleting it, or cut/paste it somewhere else. This way, if the change has unintended consequences, you can easily revert to the previous state.

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Edit 2024/11/13 | This article has been presented and recorded at The IT Nation Connect 2024 in Orlando, Florida! You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/ZJqhT48pnLU

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Welcome to The Care and Feeding of Meat Computers

The article you've stumbled across is the first in a collection of five blog posts meant to be an extension of The Care and Feeding of Meat Computers series which I’m releasing on the Rising Tide YouTube channel, born from a talk I shared at MSPGeekCon 2023. These companion guides are intended to help provide links to resources, research, and books that informed parts of this collection. The goal is to give you enough information and connections so you can dig into these concepts, including things that I cut from the talks for time or other organizational, boring reasons. I am also going to include some questions at the end of each guide to help you facilitate conversation with your team or to further deepen it!

Before we go much further, it's important to me to also extend my gratitude to the people who helped me make sure this talk happened in the first place. Heather and Brian at Gozynta encouraged me as I wrote and honed this concept the first time and generously sponsored me to attend MSPGeekCon and give this talk. Matt Fox, for the reliable perspective, fresh jokes, and tots. Alicia Gregory for academic and psychological insight, a cache of useful journal articles, and listening to me cry basically bi-weekly for nearly a decade.

Of course, last but not least, my business partner, Mendy Green, for believing in me and that this concept needed to see the light of day at all instead of just our five-minute-long WhatsApp voice notes.

Who this talk is for? You.

If you’re here, there’s a good chance you’re involved in technology, whether you follow Rising Tide, are a part of the MSPGeek community, or otherwise found this series while searching the depths of the internet. Regardless of who you are or where you’re from, come on in, make a cup of something warm, and have a seat. I hope that you will find each word expressing my sincere love to the tech community, specifically to those often-unsung heroes, the nerds whose daily, Sisyphean job is to balance the science behind tech with the increasingly important art of human understanding.  

This series is for those of you who may feel (or those of you who manage and collaborate with those who feel) more at home with your hard skills compared to soft skills. It’s completely understandable: in our society, and especially in tech, we tend to believe hard skills are the “real” skills, while soft skills are secondary or nice-to-have. But don’t let your imposter syndrome about the places you feel weak dictate what is real or true! Just because something can easily be expressed through certifications doesn’t mean they are more valuable or will help you live a more fulfilling life. In fact, you may have even been called “gifted” when it comes to technology, and as such, choose to feed that part of you, first. If we consider some of the theories about giftedness, specifically Renzulli’s three-ring conception of it, giftedness for any skill comes from ability, creativity, and commitment.  

My goal with this series is to challenge the view that hard skills are respected and most prized; and to encourage us to reframe “soft skills” not as something separate or less-than, but as essential, accessible, and attainable, intertwined with our technical expertise. We may not come by it naturally, as in an above-average-ability, but with creativity and commitment, we can develop these skills as well!

I specifically want us to look at soft skills in a way that outright refuses the notion that as you are, you are bad, undesirable, or unacceptable. While there are certain social standards that you may have been trained to adhere to, I want you to put those rules aside for these conversations. If you’ve ever felt like you’re expected to fit a mold to be successful—whether to be more charismatic, more structured, or even more proper—this series is for you.  

Being you is a good thing to be.

I’ve held a ton of jobs in a wide variety of industries and tiers of responsibilities. Despite my breadth and depth of experience and knowledge, I’m not interested in being revered as an expert. Experts tell you what you’re supposed to do and exactly how you’re supposed to do it to guarantee success. I’m sure my disdain for this snake-oily social power dynamic shows consistently in things I say and my approach in this series. Why the sass regarding experts? I want you to know and truly embrace the fact that your value as a tech professional goes beyond fitting into the boxes people want to put you in. Your value as a tech professional goes beyond fitting into the boxes you want to put yourself in! I’m not an expert, experts want you to be like them. I want you to be like you.  

You have these skills: you have social skills, you have people skills, you have soft skills. Regardless of if they fit into what some expert tells you is “correct,” if you’re a little bit weird, I want you to embrace it.

You’re here because you’re passionate about technical solutions, and you’re here because you’re looking for ways to develop further yourself and your community. I propose to you that your passion for technology is actually a powerful tool, if not the most powerful tool, in developing your soft skills. You can use your technical intelligence to boost your Emotional Intelligence.

It’s time to stop kidding ourselves that hard skills are technical and measurable while that soft skills are just a “personality trait” exemplified by gentle people like women and mothers. This belief implies two terrible, not-true things:  

1. some people just “have it” and are naturally good team players while there are others who are destined to never expand beyond their personal hangups.  

2. people with only hard skills and no soft skills are the only ones who make good business people and leaders.  

This is a disservice to you and those who you work with. You have soft skills, and developing and enhancing them is vital to your personal and professional growth. Here’s the thing: soft skills are hard. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth shaping or that they’re out of your reach as a technical, linear-minded person. Soft skills are hard-won through life experiences, loss, pain, and PRACTICE.

These concepts fold neatly into coding ideologies like Human-Centered Design and Human-Computer Interaction. You are technical, you are practical. Humans are hard. Let’s reframe this to help ourselves be more successful. I propose that soft skills aren’t the opposite of hard skills, but an evolution of them, and if you find them hard, perhaps you just need to look at humans as what they are: complex meat computers that really just want to do what they can to survive and thrive in the world they’ve inherited, just like you.  

So together, let’s flip the script and let’s start with reframing a questions we often ask, to see how we can better harness our natural penchant for hard skills and alchemize them into above average soft skills.  

Join me as we elevate the question, “Why aren’t people more like computers?” to “Why might people be too much like computers?” Instead of following a set of rules, I want you to ask yourself, “what if I treat people with just as much care and curiosity as I treat computers? What would my life, my job, and my relationships look like, instead?”

Video Chapters

• Soft Skills are Hard It’s ok to admit that soft skills are harder to you than hard skills. It’s not ok to never develop them further. Know your limits. And then dare to go further.  

• Nuance rules over Rules Life is complicated. You don’t need a list of rules to know what right looks like. What is the heart of the laws you’ve been given? Mindlessly following rules will rarely get you the results you dream of.  

• People over Tech Services work is rarely about the technical part and more about being curious and care-full about the people in our care!

• People over Stack Success comes from bringing your entire self to the table. No two people, no two MSPs are alike.

• People are Puzzles worth solving How do we, as technical people who love to solve puzzles, look as humans as solvable puzzles instead of pain points?

• People are Tech It’s not that humans are not like computers, it’s perhaps that they are too much like them.

Additional Resources and Recommended Reading

To deepen the concepts discussed in this series, here are several resources for further exploration:

Terms and Concepts

• MSP (Managed Service Provider) - Companies that remotely manage a customer’s IT infrastructure and systems

• Sisyphean - A task that feels endless and difficult, based on the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who had to roll a boulder up a hill forever

• Hard skills - Skills that involve specific knowledge or abilities, often technical, that can be measured or certified

• Soft skills - Personal skills like communication, empathy, and teamwork that help you work well with others

• Imposter syndrome - A feeling that you’re not as capable or skilled as others believe, even if you are

• Snake-oil - Something that is falsely advertised or exaggerated, originally referring to fake medicine

• Social power dynamic - How power and influence are distributed in social interactions or society

• Human-Centered Design - An approach to creating products that considers people’s needs, wants, and limitations.

• Human-Computer Interaction - The study of how people interact with computers and design technology that is easy and enjoyable to use.

• Emotional Intelligence (EQ) - The ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions in yourself and others.

Books and Research

• Emotional Intelligence ‍
  • How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence - Professional & Executive Development | Harvard DCE

• Human Centered Design ‍
  • What Is Human-Centered Design? | HBS Online  ‍
  • Full article: Knowledge is not everything

• Giftedness
  • The Renzulli Model: Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness | Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development
  • Giftedness + ADHD + Autism - Tending Paths

Questions for Team Reflection

If you’re watching this series with a team, here are some questions to guide your discussion and help you make the most of these ideas:

1. Favorite Tech: What is your favorite piece of tech? What is the best device or tool you’ve used or owned? Why is it your favorite? How much time did you spend configuring its settings and developing your own abilities to use it?  

2. Self-Assessment: Which soft skills come naturally to you, and which feel more challenging to develop? How do these impact your day-to-day work with clients or teammates?

3. Curiosity as a Tool: Have there been times when a “difficult” user or teammate surprised you with their insights or perspective? How might approaching people with curiosity change your interactions?

4. Rule Reflection: Are there any industry “rules” you follow that don’t serve you or your team well? Where did they come from? How can you find the “why” behind those rules and adapt them to fit your context? If there isn’t a good “why”...why are you still doing it?  

5. Growth Areas: What soft skill do you most want to develop? Consider using the resources linked above as a starting point to dive deeper into that area.

That’s it for Episode 1! Tune in for our next Episode: The most expensive piece of technology you’ll ever see.  

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Have you implemented unique colors for your Ticket Statuses in HaloPSA?  

Coloring these Statuses adds a great Quality of Life to your Agents working tickets. Often, it is treated as a nice-to-have or “let’s just make it look pretty,” which are fine if it works for you. However, we invite you to imagine instead with us: what if you could leverage symbolic colors that guide an Agent through your defined ticket process. What if you could implement that in a reasonable way?

So, to help lessen that decision fatigue for you since we know you’re busy customizing every other setting in HaloPSA as well, here is the framework that Rising Tide uses to approach customizing these settings to help you quickly and sensibly label your Ticket Statuses. In a future article, we’ll tackle Ticket Action color codes; however, the concepts will generally remain the same.  

Laying out the Ticket Status Colors Framework

Before we jump into coloring statuses, let’s start by defining a ticket’s lifecycle according to how your Agents need to allocate their attention to those tickets, whether that is dictated by standard professionalism or ensuring SLAs are kept. For the sake of this conversation, we are going to address these ticket attention phases with the segments: Normal Attention, Elevated Attention, or Inert Attention.

Normal Attention

Ideally, your Agents receive a ticket and all things are “Go,” they have everything they need to start working, and then Close the ticket when they've successfully completed the task and can rest on their laurels (or move on to the next ticket!).

We recommend all Normal Attention tickets to be assigned “cool colors” like greens, blues, and purples. (And not cool because we think they’re rad, cool as opposed to warm colors, more information here on color theory) Statuses like New and In Progress generally belong here. We have the ticket, everything is going as planned. What a perfect, serene world. Peaceful, isn’t it?  

Unfortunately, that’s not the reality in most of our businesses! What happens when tickets require extra attention or action to ensure their timely completion?

Elevated Attention

‍Here in Elevated Attention is where we see statuses like Escalated, Pending Approval, or Reopened: tickets that we need to be actively thinking about and revisiting, especially ones that are keeping our SLA clock running. To inspire action and increase visibility, we’re using warm, fiery colors like Orange, Red, and Yellow.

What if there is a ticket where we cannot take immediate action, or it doesn’t warrant it? That’s our last category: Inert Attention.  

Inert Attention

‍There will be times when our tickets are active but there is literally nothing we can do but wait. The SLA clock isn’t running, so we don’t need to worry about taking action on these just yet: statuses like Waiting on Client or Waiting on Vendor. We recommend using greys to signify these statuses’ inactive character.  

In general, we recommend you set up HaloPSA to do most of the status setting and remembering to move tasks in and out of statuses, especially Inert-type statuses. Specifically, when setting up these Inert Attention statuses in HaloPSA, be sure to build those Ticket Statuses, Ticket Type Settings, and your related Workflows so when a ticket enters or exits an Inert status, it automatically puts the ticket on or removes it from SLA hold. You can see examples of these settings in the screen captures below.

Some examples of this recommendation in action could be:

• Setting a Waiting on Client ticket to Attention Required when a customer replies to an email
• Setting a Waiting on Vendor ticket to Attention Required when a Supplier updates
• Setting a ticket to Scheduled upon creating an Appointment (Ticket Type Settings: Status after user appointment booking (resource booking), or Status after Agent creates appointment)
• Automatically setting Waiting on Client tickets to Closed after a certain number of hours with no reply according to SLA rules you set.

Ticket Status Colors Framework in Action

With all of these ideas in mind, we suggest as you approach customizing each ticket status, you ask:  

What type of Attention do I expect of my team at this status: Normal, Elevated, or Inert?

When you have that answer, choose a color from the suggested family. Remember that color for other statuses you may have for other Ticket Types so it stays consistent regardless of what Area your Agent is operating from!

Here are some examples for what we specifically recommend to Rising Tide Customers. You will likely not need all of them, depending on your MSP’s needs:  

Normal Attention

• Brand New/Assigned (Waiting on You): Green — Ticket is newly created and waiting for initial action. Green indicates readiness to start and clear action needed.

• Claimed/Work in Progress: Blue — Ticket is actively being addressed towards resolution. Blue symbolizes confidence in ongoing work and progress.  
  • We’d be remiss if we didn’t specifically call out that at Rising Tide we recommend that your Agents should not be "Claiming" tickets until they're ready to work on them.  

• Closed: Black — The ticket has been fully resolved and all necessary actions are completed. Black signifies completion and closure of the ticket.

‍Elevated Attention

• Pending Approval: Yellow — Awaiting authorization or approval to proceed. Yellow is high-visibility and unique to call attention to follow up that may be necessary.  

• Escalated: Orange — Moved to a higher level of support due to complexity or urgency. Orange highlights urgency and attention required.

• Customer Updated/Vendor Updated/Approver Updated: Orange— Orange is used to indicate recent release from a paused status like Waiting on Customer or Waiting on Vendor and subsequent re-instating of the current SLA timer, if applicable.  

• Attention Required: Orange — Elevated attention needed following removal from an SLA hold.  

• Reopened: Red — Previously closed/resolved ticket is active again due to additional issues or dissatisfaction. Red indicates a critical reactivation that needs immediate reassessment.

Inert Attention

• Waiting on Client: Grey — Progress on the ticket is paused because it requires input or action from the client. Grey suggests inactivity from the MSP’s side, waiting on external action.  

• Waiting on Vendor/Waiting on Parts: Grey — Progress on the ticket is halted while waiting for action or information from an external vendor. Similar to waiting on client but specific to external vendors.

• Scheduled: Purple — Scheduled could also technically be included in the Normal category, hence the cool purple. Denotes a paused status where work is planned, but no active work is required.  

• Resolved: Teal — Similar to Scheduled, Resolved straddles the Normal category as well. The issue within the ticket has been addressed, awaiting final closure or verification from the requester. Teal is a calm yet upbeat color indicating resolution but awaiting final closure.

As with most rules, there are going to be times when items cross between phases, or you may operate differently and not define a ticket status the same way we did here.

Maybe you have some color-blind technicians on staff and decide to use completely different colors completely or none at all. (If you do want to create a color-blind friendly palette, here’s a great resource.)  

Maybe you want to choose different values (light or dark) within a certain family than what Halo provides.

Good! Break our rules. They're just here to help you decide what you do or don't actually want.

Our main recommendation is that you use your best judgement on what is right for your team and just be consistent which sometimes means keeping it simple. And let us know what you ended up doing, you may help someone else. Happy customizing!