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2014-12-17

For an IT professional it’s a Skill to get an Answer

Scenario: I ask a person a question– ask them for some information. They don’t answer my question- they don’t give me the information I’m asking for. It’s a skill to 1. realize that someone hasn’t given me the information-comprising-the-answer and 2. get the answer.

Moving on in the scenario:

Why mightn’t a person answer my question-asking-for-information?

1. It’s secret. The information-comprising-the-answer is secret/confidential.

2. Too much effort. It would take too much effort to give me the information-comprising-the-answer

3. They don’t know. They don’t know the information-comprising-the-answer.

At this point I need to know why the person didn’t give me the information-comprising-the-answer, so that I can decide what to do next.

If it’s reason 1. (It’s secret), then I know I’m going to have to regroup and find how to gain access to the secret information, and try again.

If it’s reason 2. (Too much effort), then I can recalculate how much effort it’s worth and regroup accordingly with whoever’s involved.

If it’s reason 3. (They don’t know), then I can either A.ask them to find out, or B.ask them who would know, or c.myself go ask someone else– whichever is appropriate.

In conclusion, as an IT Professional it’s important for me to realize whether or not someone has answered my question-asking-for-information. If they haven’t answered it then it’s also important to find out why, because that helps me to regroup and get the original question answered.

*2015-01-21 edit: previously published at http://w̶i̶e̶l̶d̶l̶i̶n̶u̶x̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/2014-12-17-it-skill-get-answer.html
*2015-03-04 edit: corrected date at top from 2015 to become 2014
*2015-07-29 edit: fixed white space to make readable.


[2020 edit: Moved to: https://i̶n̶v̶e̶s̶t̶o̶r̶w̶o̶r̶k̶e̶r̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/2014/... .html.]