The Starting Line

I’ve been working on a book about troubleshooting (working title: “The Art of Troubleshooting”), off and on, for a little over 2 years now. When I started, I had a long list of chapter topics and I’ve been cranking through them over that time period. Now that the bulk of what I intend to say has been written down, I feel like I’ve come to an impasse. I’ve been working alone in the cave long enough and now it’s time to rejoin society. Also, I need to inject some energy back into this project – the initial enthusiasm for it having long since faded in the rear view mirror.

So, I’ve decided to take what I have and break it up into tasty bite-size pieces and publish it on this blog. Along the way, I hope to accomplish the following:

1. Get some feedback and refine my theories on the art of troubleshooting.
2. Push back the frontiers of knowledge by gathering a community of troubleshooters who can learn from each other and build upon my ideas. I may eventually start a wiki to foster this collaboration.
3. Gain energy for the project through the back-and-forth with interested readers.
4. Build an audience for the eventual publishing of the book.

The inspiration to continue this project out in the open comes from two sources. First, my experience with Agile software development techniques has shown me the value of getting feedback early and often. I truly believe what I have to say about troubleshooting will be extremely useful to people and I’d like to find out if I’m right sooner rather than later. Second, after reading Craig Mod’s article “Post-Artifact Books and Publishing,” I realized how the process of writing and publishing a book has been transformed in the digital age (of course, you can still write in whiskey-fueled isolation like the great authors of the past, if you so desire). I’d be foolish not to take advantage of it all, especially the “engagement with readers” aspect afforded by a blog.

Welcome to The Art of Troubleshooting.

References:

• Header image: Bain News Service, P. Start – 400 meter race – Hamburg. [Ca. 1910-1915] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2014690738/.