Lessons · IT support · the six-step method
Six steps, in the same order every time
Identify the problem, form a theory of the probable cause, test the theory, plan the fix, implement it, verify it worked, and document everything. Six steps (the last two are one line), always in that order, so a bad morning cannot make you skip the one that mattered.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
What it is for
It is 09:05 and three people are waiting. The temptation is to jump to the fix you did last time. Sometimes it works, and you have learned nothing; sometimes it does not, and you have now changed something on a machine whose original state you never recorded. The method is slower for the first minute and faster for the rest of the day.
How to think about it
Say the step out loud in your head before you do it. 'Identifying' means questions and looking, hands off the keyboard. 'Theory' is one sentence you could be wrong about. 'Test' proves or kills the theory without fixing anything. Only after that do you plan and change, and only after the change do you verify with the user's own task, and write it up.
Worked example
1. Identify: no internet on one desktop; what changed: the cleaners moved the desk last nightSymptoms, scope, and what changed. Hands off so far.
2. Theory: the cable came out of the wall port in the moveOne sentence. Testable. Could be wrong.
3. Test: link light on the desktop is offThe theory survives. A lit link light would have killed it and sent you back to step 2.
4. Plan, 5. Implement: reseat the cable at the wallThe change, planned then made. One change.
6. Verify, and document: link light on, address back, user opens the intranet; ticket notes writtenVerified with the user's real task, then written down so the next move of a desk is a two-minute ticket.
Your turn
Write the step that comes right after testing the theory and finding it holds.
Identify → theory → test → → implement → verify and document
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Testing the theory by applying the fix. If you reinstall the driver to see whether the driver is the cause, and it works, you still do not know whether the driver was the cause or the restart was. The test is not the fix.