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The Perfect Solution |
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” - Thomas Alva Edison
It’s been one of those days. I came up with what I would call a perfect solution to a design problem. I thought it over, I sketched it out, and it’s pretty darn good if I do say so myself. And then, there it was, looming in the distance - I found a problem; It’s not sustainable. Not even sort of. The person who will be managing this issue doesn’t have the time, the skill, or the technology they need to maintain this “perfect solution” I came up with. It’s not their fault, it’s mine. So, I’m frustrated. My solution is no longer a solution. It’s just another way that won’t work. So it’s back to the drawing board…again. 
I can’t imagine I’m alone in this experience. Whether you’re limited by skills, by resources, or by technology, being forced to change directions to solve a problem you feel like you’ve already solved can be disheartening. We start playing the blame game. “Why can’t they just learn this?” or “Why can’t the software just DO that?” “It was the PERFECT solution,” we tell ourselves. But the fact is that we’re wrong. If it was the perfect solution, it would work.
I find that the hardest thing to do when this happens, as hard as it seems, is to let the solution go. I give myself a small window of time to kick around all of the woulda-coulda-shoulda’s. As best as I can, I remove it from my memory. I no longer allow for “if only” or “I just wish”. Instead of reflecting on how I feel about my failed solution, I try to remember what the problem was to begin with. I break it down to the simplest parts. And then, I think of every way I could solve it, no matter how extreme**. No idea is too dumb or too small or too outlandish. They all COULD happen.
**Note: You’d be amazed how many times “win the lottery” fits in as a possible solution.
And you know what? Nearly every time, a new solution arises that is simpler, more reasonable, and actually WORKS. I don’t know how it happens, or why I didn’t think of this solution before, but it works all around. The answer was there all the time.
There will always be software limitations, tight timeframes, and a minimal amount of resources. Especially in an economy that has us watching every penny and counting every dime, it’s become so important to figure out these creative solutions. Figure out how you best work to solve these, and you’ll be amazed at what you can do, regardless of the limiting factors. And until you actually DO hit the lottery, it’ll be a nice skill to fall back on whenever you, like me, have one of those days.
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@dcwebguy - I definitely hear what you are saying. It's such a tight rope walk. There are certainly times when a more elegant solution is scrapped for a clumsier one for whatever reason, and from the outside, it's so hard to look at that and not get frustrated. I suppose it comes down to weighing the benefits of integrating the solution against the challenges that same solution creates. This is a tough spot for me in website development, which, by it's nature, should be iterative. When you start getting into software and development cycles, yikes. It's a whole new can of worms! I definitely feel your pain, though.
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I enjoyed the sentiment behind this post. I'm a proactive, solutions-oriented type of guy--and you're right, "If it was the perfect solution, it would work." But sometimes, a software's limitations (due to slow dev cycle), or co-workers'/stakeholders' inability or unwillingness to learn something new really ARE the problem. Not your solution. It might be perfect. It might be exactly what needs to be done. I guess the longer I work in this industry, the more I respect developers, who ofter cripple good solutions so that they remain unsustainable in the long-run to get around the fact that most of their non-tech peers would never take the time and effort to learn something new and try a new approach because it would knock them out of their comfort zone or increase their work load. ActiveX is a perfect example something that was done to make it easy for the end-user, and Microsoft and its customers have lived with that mistake for over a decade, since.