I want to hear about problems, not solutions

What!!??

Ever heard the phrase "I want to hear about solutions, not problems"?  Executives, managers, consumers of services, and users of software use the phrase when all they want is for a problem to get solved, among other reasons. Software developers should only use it when filling one of those roles, even though you should avoid it to prevent an unsolvable problem from rising to the surface. Software developers provide the solutions to problems. They should approach their interactions with users, and sometimes our peers, as "I want to hear about problems, not solutions."

Several times in my career, business owners and technical peers approached me to present several solutions for unclear problems. I'm guilty. I present my share of solutions without clearly stating the problems they intended to solve. In many cases, the solution presented did not solve the problem the presenter intended to solve. In others, the presenter's authority or tone gave no option to developers for inquiring about the problem in order to find another, perhaps better, solution.

As a software developer myself, I want to hear about problems, not solutions. Every feature request, bug, improvement, etc. presents a problem someone needs to solve.

I'm not suggesting anyone use this statement as a challenge. The "solutions, not problems" phrase is typically used to eliminate excuses. Software developers should professionally inquire about the problems a presented solution intends to solve. We owe it to our users, managers and executives to do this... it's what we, as software developers, are paid for.

Focus on problems before identifying a solution. When you start to identify a solution, think and/or find out about other similar problems that might exist. Evaluate those against your solution. When you're done, restate your problems when you present your solution.

P.S.

I wrote the article above on an internal blog at my old my old place of business minus some minor editorial adjustments. At the end of last month, Coding Horror included a couple of posts on a similar subject. The first said the following that triggered me to thinking about this post again.

Users often don't know what they want, and even if they did, the communication is likely to get garbled somewhere between them and you.

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I am a technology professional, husband and father striving to balance many interests in my life. Occasionally, I write about technical hobbies, my career, travel (mostly in our RV) and other things important in my life.

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