Critical Thinking Skills Success - Troubleshooting

T
ROUBLESHOOTING IS ABOUT
thinking ahead. Before things do not go as planned, before you
are faced with huge problems, you think through your situation, identify issues that could get
in your way, and take care of them. When you troubleshoot, you anticipate what might go wrong
and keep problems from growing by resolving them when they are of a more manageable size, or, you pre-
vent them from coming into existence in the first place.
Troubleshooting is also about taking care of the setbacks that can stall you as you work toward reach-
ing a goal. From small annoyances to major setbacks, these problems must be resolved in order to get where
you need to go.

Identifying Problems That Interfere with Goals
After you set a goal and begin working toward it, you will inevitably be faced with a roadblock or two. You
learned in Lesson 1 that you can’t solve, or “troubleshoot” problems without first acknowledging them and
LESSON
Troubleshooting
LESSON SUMMARY
This lesson is about taking care of the large and small problems that
can get in your way and stall your progress.
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that holds true for the problems that interfere with your
goals. Some of these problems are foreseeable; that is,
you can anticipate them before you even begin to work
toward your goal. Others are unexpected and must be
dealt with as they arise. Unexpected problems are usu-
ally easier to spot, and easier to solve, even though you
have not prepared for them. Identifying foreseeable
problems takes more work. You must honestly assess
the goal you wish to achieve and think critically about
what must be overcome in order to achieve it.

An example of a foreseeable problem may be
found in Lesson 5, in which a goal-setting chart was
presented. The goal is to get better grades, and the stu-
dent notes that “too much socializing”and “poor study
skills” are the problems in his way. Before he even
begins to work toward achieving better grades, he
knows what he must overcome or solve in order to suc-
cessfully reach his goal. Note that both problems are
probably not simple for the student to solve, as they
require breaking habits and acquiring new skills. Social-
izing less means spending fewer hours with friends—
not a desirable thing to do. Improving study skills
involves finding and learning information.
Unforeseeable problems are typically inconven-
iences that get in your way as you work toward achiev-
ing your goal. For instance, you are doing some research
for your boss and need a particular book from your
local university’s library. When you go to pick it up, you
find that it is already checked out. Another example of
an unforeseeable problem is technology hang-ups. Your
computer could crash, or your printer could break
down as you are trying to get a report done by a dead-
line. These problems are relatively easy to solve. In the
first case, you have a number of possibilities. You can
ask for the book to be returned, ask the library to check
other libraries for the book, or even look for it at book
stores if the price is reasonable. Technology problems
might take an expert to fix, but in the meantime, you
could find a temporary solution such as working from
a backup disk on someone else’s equipment.

Unexpected problems, by their nature, can’t be
planned for. You must simply figure out the best way
to solve them quickly and thoroughly and then get back
on your path. The rest of this lesson focuses on trou-
bleshooting the first type of problem, because it is more
complex, being more difficult to find and more diffi-
cult to solve.
Practice
List at least two of each type of problem that could arise
in the following scenario. Note that while this example
involves a business setting, very similar problems occur
both at home and at school. When you are busy and
your schedule is tight, you should be thinking seriously
about troubleshooting.
Lee has a meeting with his boss and three cowork-
ers at 10:30 to discuss new business. He is expected to
present some ideas for landing a specific new account.
He also has a conference scheduled across town at a
major client’s offices for 11:30, in which he is to give an
update on progress made on the account.
Foreseeable Problems:
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Unexpected Problems:
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
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TROUBLESHOOTING

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Answer
Reponses will vary, but should include:
Foreseeable Problems: Lee needs to adequately
prepare for both meetings, which could take
more time than he originally scheduled. He
may have to work late the night before, or
put off other tasks until he is ready for the
two meetings.
Unexpected Problems: the first meeting could
run over its allotted time, making Lee late for
his second meeting; Lee could have difficulty
getting to the client’s office due to traffic,
unavailability of taxis, etc.; Lee’s presentation
could go poorly at one or both meetings.

Troubleshooting Problems
That Interfere with Goals
Troubleshooting foreseeable and potential problems
can be difficult. It requires critical thinking skills to
examine the path to your goal, and imagine or note all
of the things that might go wrong as you work toward
achieving it. For example, you had minor outpatient
surgery and received a bill for $8,500. You can submit
it to your insurance company which will cover 80% of
the cost. However, the company has rules for filing
claims, including that they be submitted no later than
30 days after treatment. If you wait two months before
trying to get reimbursed, you will lose $6,800.

Let’s look at this problem in terms of trou-
bleshooting ahead of time. You have a very expensive
bill to pay. You can solve that problem by filing a claim
with your insurance company because it is a covered
expense. How can you determine the potential prob-
lems that could prevent you from being reimbursed
$6,800? The best way is to familiarize yourself with all
of the rules of your insurance company. Do they require
the hospital to bill them directly? Do they require pre-
approval? Do they have a time limit for claim filing?
Once you understand exactly what they demand, you
can follow their rules and get reimbursed.Your poten-
tial problems, in other words, are defined in this case
as the rules for reimbursement. If you do not follow all
of them, you will not get your money.
Practice
You agree to take your friend’s one-year-old son for
an afternoon while he attends a business meeting.
You don’t know much about children, other than
having once been one yourself. How can you trou-
bleshoot the problems that you imagine you might
encounter? Circle all answers that apply.
a. Ask another friend with a baby to teach you how
to change a diaper.
b. Rent some videos a one-year old boy might like.
c. Read some child-rearing books.
d. Do some comparison shopping for size 12-month
clothes.
Answer
All responses except choice d are examples of trou-

bleshooting. You will not be expected to provide clothes
for your friend’s child but you will need to change his
diaper and entertain him. Child-rearing books could
give you some advice on how to handle the boy.

Prevention Versus Cure
Another type of troubleshooting involves problem-
causing trends. If you are constantly faced with the
same type of problem, you should look at how to pre-
vent it in the future. Figure out what is causing the
problem and how you make changes to stop it from
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TROUBLESHOOTING
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recurring. By employing this type of troubleshooting, you prevent a problem rather than always trying to solve
it each time it occurs.
Perhaps your boss meets with his boss every Friday morning to give an update as to your department’s
progress. You begin to notice a trend. At 4:00
P
.
M
. every Thursday, your boss starts to become irritable. He asks
you to summarize what you and your colleagues have accomplished during the week. He always needs the sum-
mary in an hour, no matter what other urgent business you have to tend to. Some weeks, you have had to drop
important work to write the summary and it has given others the impression that you were not working hard
enough. There are a number of ways in which you might prevent another such Thursday afternoon, rather than
simply dealing with it the same way week after week.
You could ask to speak with your boss about the summaries, and find out if this will be your responsibility
each week. If it is, you might consider asking your boss to alert the others in your department that every Thurs-

day you will be busy from 4:00–5:00, so everyone is clear about what you are doing. Another possible solution
would be to clear your own schedule on Thursday afternoons, or even begin work on the summary on Thursday
morning, or even earlier in the week. If you know you will be expected to complete this task, you can troubleshoot
by preventing it from becoming a crisis. Take control of your work schedule and be ready every Thursday for the
inevitable job of writing the summary.
Below is a graph you might want to use to explore possible troubleshooting methods. It can work for pre-
ventative troubleshooting, as described in the section above, or for anticipated problems that will occur whether
you are prepared for them or not.
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Troubleshooting Graph
GOAL
How to solve it:
How to avoid it:
Potential
Problem
#1
How to solve it:
How to avoid it:
Potential
Problem
#3
How to solve it:
How to avoid it:
Potential
Problem
#2
Here is a graph that has been completed to show what might happen if your goal was to graduate one semes-

ter early.
Practice
Scenario: you are asked by your boss to order the food for your annual company picnic. She anticipates that 70
coworkers will attend. Last year, 65 people were at the picnic and they consumed 50 hamburgers and 40 hot dogs.
You know there will be a problem if you order too much or too little food. How can you troubleshoot these prob-
lems?
GOAL:
How to solve it:
How to avoid it:
Potential
Problem #1:
How to solve it:
How to avoid it:
Potential
Problem #2:
GOAL:
to graduate
one semester
early
How to solve it: Take two courses every summer
How to avoid it: Not applicable
Potential
Problem #1:
I need 96
credits
How to solve it: Use the alumni directory to
contact alumni for job information on my own
How to avoid it: Ask if I can attend anyway
Potential
Problem #3:

will miss on-
campus alumni
job fair
How to solve it: Accept it, I still have
what I want
How to avoid it: Ask if I can be given
my diploma in May rather than January
Potential
Problem #2:
won’t be in
graduation
ceremony
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