Member-only story
Developers Need To Ask Themselves Why
Asking why stops stupidity
First, solve the problem. Then, write the code. — John Johnson
We ask other people why, but few people ask themselves why. Asking why helps you question assumptions and forces you to think.
An insight why can wake you up from a career slumber and it can help you see the difference between what you assumed was happening and what is really happening.
Why makes us think
We can be so busy working or rushing to get started we forget to think. We focus on what, we forget to ask why.
We trade speed for accuracy, and the result is doing the wrong thing fast. Asking yourself why makes you stop and think.
“If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” Einstein
Think about what you need to do? Why do you need to do it? Have a plan before you jump into action. Avoid doing the wrong thing is the first step to doing the right thing.
Why am I so busy?
I worked on a project where I was a scrum master and solution architect. As the project went on, I become busier and busier. I couldn’t understand why the busiest person on the project was a scrum master. Not only couldn’t I get to the bottom of my to do list, it was getting bigger each day.
I tried to out work the problems, I ended up working longer and longer hours. It was while I was on holiday that I asked myself the question
Why am I so busy?
I listed the work I was doing, the meetings I attended, and the responsibilities. I was doing other people's work, and I wasn’t delegating the work I could.
The beauty of asking why is you can keep asking. Why was I busy, helped me list the tasks, activities and meetings?
Why was I doing these things, helped me think about who should be doing these activities?
