Ask HN: Is the skills cap in tech as wide as we think? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Is the skills cap in tech as wide as we think?

11 pointsiamdave7 comments

Just had a support call escalated to me where the resolution involved unplugging a network cable, and plugging it back in. For about two seconds I was annoyed with the help desk operator who sent me the ticket for overlooking the first troubleshooting step, then the end user having the problem told me these words:

"I'm not smart enough to do that".

Which, had this been something involving poking around with network settings or pinging a server and looking for certain responses...I'd give a pass on.

This was literally reaching over to a desk phone, unplugging the only cable connected (because PoE is awesome like that), and then performing the steps in reverse.

Got me thinking...is there really a gap in tech skills, or has our tech gotten us to the point where we are unwilling or incapable of rudimentary problem solving tasks?

You're a savvy bunch, what are your thoughts here? How can we resolve this gap or deficiency in critical skills in the workplace?

Most people are terrified of computers.

And most computer professionals are totally oblivious to this, which is one of the key reasons that so much user-space software (and hardware) really sucks.

Instead of whinging about how stupid people are and heading down the path that leads uphill both ways (and we LIKED it!), put yourself in the user's shoes. Computers are magic to them. When you ask them to do something that seems simple to you, like unplug and replug a network cable, keep in mind that they don't know what a network cable is, or what it does, or what might happen, or why they're being told to do that. They're genuinely scared, and rightfully so, given the horrid experiences most people have had with technology today.

Try accompanying the request for action with an explanation of what you expect it to do (in small words), heavily loaded with reassurance that it will not catch fire and explode or sell their children on EBay or whatever horror stories might be rolling through their minds. Help them feel that the person at the other end of the line, the expert they called (overcoming other fears to even ask for help) is sympathetic, wants them to succeed, and believes in them.

And finally, remember, the wise words of one of the smartest people I know... "Intelligence is like four wheel drive. It doesn't keep you from getting stuck, it just lets you get stuck in worse places."

Beat has hit the nail on the head. My day job is consumer sales for a big Australian telecom. Many of my customers visit to buy their first smartphone (!). I'll train them in how to call, text and browse before they leave and drill it in with practice (my sales manager hates the time this takes).

But they're too afraid of breaking the phones to play; too afraid to learn. Apple's 'Do Not Disturb' feature is a common issue - they'll accidentally turn it on, and they can see the half-moon. They remember they need to turn the feature off to receive calls... and 75% of the time they even remember how. But they leave it until they're in-store next - because they are too afraid of causing damage.

Great insight. I would say it's analogous to someone who really knows nothing about cars (other than how to operate one to get from point A to point B) trying to change a spark plug or an oil filter.

There's a story often told to entrepreneurs about how elephants are trained to stay on a rope.

Elephants are powerful creatures - they could snap a rope in a heartbeat. Yet, trained elephants can be tied to a post or led around with even a terribly thin rope. So why don't they break free?

It's simple: from birth, they're tied with chains (which they can't break at that age). It is ingrained into their brain that "tied up" == "can't escape". Thus, when they are tied up with mere rope, they assume it will behave just like the chain, and they'll be stuck - so they don't even try.

People often behave the same way with computers. Several bad experiences with trying to fix something themselves, and making the situation worse, imprints them with the belief that they will never be able to fix their computers, and it's much better to simply let someone "who knows what they're doing" (as if we always do) handle it. Add to that the fact that if they try to fix it themselves, they may not remember everything that they tried and could possibly have caused a problem that would render solving the original problem much more difficult, and the fear (real, honest-to-God fear) much more understandable.

To stand further atop the shoulders of giants in this comment, I'll bring in a well-known (in this neck of the Internet) quote from Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". When they have to decide if they can fix it themselves, they are basically asking: "Am I a magician? No -> Okay, I'll take it to someone who is."

One thing I like to keep in mind in situations like this (to stay humble and avoid coming off as condescending) is that if I had a hardware failure, I'd take it to the Apple store right away. No f'n way would I fix that myself - why? Because I'd probably make it worse.

People don't like venturing into territory where they aren't 100% confident in what they are doing. Especially when it comes to tasks that haven't been programmed into muscle memory.

Solution? Shut down all internet search engines for a year. When people aren't spoon-fed answers to every question maybe they'll start using critical thought as their default mode of operation.

As a technology becomes more and more ubiquitous it comes in contact with a more diverse range of people. People take it so much for granted that a person who doesn't know how to connect and disconnect modular adapted cables - something that my grandmother did when replacing the knotted cord on the handset - is the person who is fucking assigned to troubleshoot a network outage!

As little as ten years ago, the person troubleshooting it would either be a trained technician or the office computer guru...then again, I've worked in offices where the equivalent of plugging and unplugging a cable counted as being the in-house expert. And it didn't stop the company from making money.

I don't think that the problem is that they are "not smart enough to do that". I think that the problem is that they have given up on ever being able to understand. That's a much harder problem to solve.

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