Compounding Problems

Today I had a busy day at the office and tomorrow doesn't look like it will be much better. There were some changes we made to our server infrastructure and ran into two problems. Unfortunately I need to make some more changes but those will have to wait. The last thing I want to do is compound the problems.

I was sailing back from Hawaii when I discovered "The Law of Compounding Problems." The law is based on the idea that serious accidents don't happen on their own but are a series of smaller ones that grow into something big. For instance, it is important to keep all ropes or lines on a sailboat properly stowed so that if a wave hits the boat and someone stumbles, they don't get tripped and fall overboard.

This law can be applied to computers as well. Perhaps you install new memory at the same time you upgrade your computer's operating system only to discover it now won't boot. Then you are left trying to figure out if the memory was installed wrong or if there is something with the new operating system. Throw in a third variable and fixing the problem can be almost impossible. That is why you want to ensure that you make sure each update to your computer works before adding something else.

Today we were able to isolate both of our problems. This allows us to fix them one-at-a-time without having to try and figure them both out at the same time. We still don't have solutions, but have some ideas. Once we get them taken care of, then I can make my changes.